- 


THE 


CONVERT'S  COUNSELLOR 


RESPECTING  HIS  CHURCH  RELATIONS: 


POPULAR  OBJECTIONS  TO  METHODISM 

CONSIDERED  AND  ANSWERED: 

WITH   REASONS   WHY   METHODIST   CONVERTS 
SHOULD  JOIN  A  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

AN  ANTIDOTE  TO   CERTAIN    RECENT    PUBLICATIONS  ASSAILING 
THE   METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

BY    DANIEL    WISE, 

Author  of  Young  Man's  Counsellor,  Young  Lady's  Counsellor, 
Path  of  Life,  *c.,  fcC. 

SECOND   THOUSAND. 

BOSTON: 
FOR   SALE   BY   J.   P.   MAGEE. 

1  856. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856, 

BY  DANIEL  WISE, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


Qw.  C.  lUnd  i  Aver/,  Printers,  3  CocnhUl,  Boftoo. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


MY  first  intention,  when  gathering  materials  for  this 
work,  was  to  write  a  full  and  complete  answer  to  all 
the  points  raised  by  certain  recent  writers  against  our 
church.  A  little  reflection,  however,  convinced  me 
that  such  a  task  was  needless.  1.  Their  writings  do 
not  reach  many  of  our  people.  2.  If  they  did,  their 
absurdity,  falsity,  and  bad  spirit  are  so  obvious,  that 
none  of  our  members,  if  at  all  acquainted  with  Metho- 
dism, could  be  alienated  from  it  by  what  they  contain. 
3.  There  is  no  probability  that  our  enemies,  who 
accept  those  writings,  would  go  to  the  expense  of  pur- 
chasing such  a  reply,  if  written  ;  for  such  persons  do 
not  wish  to  be  convinced  of  their  falsehood.  4.  The 
only  mischief  likely  to  accrue  to  our  church  from  their 
circulation,  arises  from  the  oral  propagation  of  their 
more  salient  assertions  among  those  who,  having  re- 
ceived Christ  at  our  altars,  and  being  as  yet  but  par- 
tially acquainted  with  our  system,  are  the  objects  of 
an  unscrupulous  proselytism.  Hence  it  appeared  to 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

me,  that  a  small  book  delineating  the  prominent  fea- 
tures of  our  system,  especially  at  those  points  most 
virulently  assailed,  would  meet  the  case  better  than  a 
large  and  elaborate  polemic.  I  therefore  determined 
to  write  an  antidote  rather  than  a  formal  answer  to 
those  books ;  to  make  a  work  which,  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  harassed  convert,  would  say  to  him  just 
those  things  which  his  pastor  would  like  to  say  had 
he  time  and  opportunity,  and  which,  being  said, 
would  effectually  fortify  him  against  the  influences  of 
proselytism. 

Whether  I  have  realized  my  ideal,  or  not,  the  pub- 
lic must  now  judge.  I  have  written  in  a  style  and 
manner  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  young  persons ; 
and  have  illustrated  my  points,  as  much  as  the  subjects 
treated  permitted,  for  the  purpose  of  making  them 
attractive.  My  earnest  desire  is,  that  the  work  may 
be  instrumental  in  saving  many  converts  to  the  Meth- 
oiist  church  and  to  Christ. 

DANIEL  WISE. 
ROXBURT,  MARCH,  1856. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DUTY  OF   CONVEKTS  TO  JOIN  THE  VISIBLE   CHTJBCH. 

The  convert'8  confidence  requested  —  The  presumed  relation  of 
the  Convert  to  Methodism  described  —  His  perplexity  —  A 
temptation  and  its  source  —  Union  with  the  Visible  Church  es- 
sential to  safety  —  Crossing  the  Atlantic  in  an  open  boat  —  The 
lost  steam-ship  —  The  illustration  applied  —  Voices  of  reason 
and  experience  —  Buoys  in  channels — What  they  teach  — 
The  Visible  Church  and  what  it  teaches  of  the  will  of  Christ 
—  Queries  —  The  promptings  of  love  —  Duty  to  celebrate  the 
death  of  Christ  requires  church-membership  —  A  temptation 
described  —  The  voyager's  idle  resolve  —  The  illustration  ap- 
plied,   11-22 

CHAPTER  H. 

METHODIST   CONVERTS    SHOULD    JOIN  A    METHODIST  CHURCH. 

The  Convert  considered  as  a  child  of  Methodism  —  A  providence 
in  spiritual  parentage  —  The  providential  lesson  —  Spiritual 
sympathy,  the  need  of  a  Convert  —  Sympathy  most  likely  to 
b«  found  in  the  house  of  one's  spiritual  birth  —  Prospects  of 
a  Methodist  Convert  in  other  churches  —  The  animus  of  Cal- 
vinist  churches  unfriendly  to  Methodism  —  Proofs  —  Recep- 
tion of  Cooke's  Centuries  and  the  Great  Iron  Wheel  by  Cal- 


VI  CONTENTS. 

vinist  churches  —  Inferences  —  The  sea-boy's  home  feelings 
—  The  illustration  applied  —  Converts  should  not  join  churches 
whose  creeds  they  do  not  believe  —  Agnes  Stanley,  the  mar- 
tyr—  The  illustration  applied — The  path  of  duty  —  Poetic 
extract, 23-42 

CHAPTER  m. 

MEANS  OF   GRACE  PECULIAR  TO  METHODISM. 

The  ancient  crusader  —  His  preparations  —  Duty  of  Convert  to 
select  the  church  most  fitted  to  help  him  to  heaven  —  Claims 
of  the  Methodist  E.  Church  —  Its  culture  of  the  elements  of 
the  spiritual  life  —  Love  to  God  —  Faith  —  The  preaching  of 
Methodism  —  Its  hymns  and  services  —  The  doctrines  of 
Methodism  as  related  to  spiritual  culture  —  Institutions  of 
Methodism  —  Their  influence  on  Christian  activity  —  Itine- 
rancy —  Provisions  for  Christian  fellowship  —  Fellowship  a 
necessity  of  the  spiritual  life  —  Primitive  Christians  —  Ex- 
perience of  deeply  pious  men — Mr.  Wesley's  visit  to  Ger- 
many in  search  of  Christian  fellowship  —  Dr.  Chalmers  — 
The  class-meeting  —  Its  object  and  uses  —  Love  feasts  — 
Their  antiquity  —  Quotation  from  Coleman  —  Summary  of 
the  chapter, 42-63 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OBJECTIONS  TO  METHODIST  PECULIARITIES  CONSIDERED. 

Portrait  of  Jean  Paul  Richter  —  The  truth  it  embodies  —  Ob- 
jections to  the  class-meeting  considered  —  The  conscience  not 
hardened  by  it  —  A  false  assumption  exposed  —  The  class 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

meeting  not  a  confessional  —  It  does  not  promote  insincerity  — 
Its  fitness  to  develop  the  Christian  life  —  Band  meetings  — 
Views  of  pious  men  of  other  denominations  —  Opinion  of  an 
Episcopal  editor  —  Testimony  of  a  Congregationalist  pastor  — 
Opinion  of  a  British  critic  —  The  Spaniard's  spectacles  — 
Spectacled  critics  of  Methodism  —  Experience  of  fifteen  con- 
verts examined  —  The  Methodist  prayer-meeting  —  Its  ear 
nestness  an  argument  in  its  favor  —  The  Czar  of  Russia  sav- 
ing a  peasant  —  The  illustration  applied  —  The  dancing 
master  and  the  martyr  —  Liberty  of  women  in  the  Methodist 
church — Scriptural  authority  —  Texts  examined  —  Dr.  A. 
Clarke  quoted  —  Priscilla  —  Tryphena  —  Tryphosa  —  Persis 
—  Clarke's  note  on  these  holy  women — Laughable  instance 
of  the  ignorance  of  a  writer  against  Methodism  —  Secret  of 
opposition  to  Methodism  —  Poetic  extract,  .  .  .'  .  64-94 

CHAPTER  V. 

DOCTRINES  PECULIAR  TO  METHODISM. 

Italian  proverb  —  Relation  between  doctrine  and  conduct — The 
creed  of  Methodism  —  Its  fundamental  doctrines  evangelical  — 
The  twenty-five  articles  —  Their  origin  —  Statement  of  Meth- 
odist doctrines  —  Antiquity  of  the  distinguishing  tenets  of 
Methodism  —  Augustine  the  inventor  of  a  new  theology  — 
Calvinism  not  taught  in  the  Bible  —  Historic  argument  —  The 
doctrines  of  the  Reformation  —  Arminius  —  Brief  sketch  of 
his  life  —  The  synod  of  Dort  —  Its  cruelty  to  the  Arminians  — 
Methodist  Arminianism  not  identical  with  the  Pelagianism  of 
the  earlier  Congregationalists  —  Quotation  from  Tracy  and 
Edwards  —  Pelagianism  described  —  Testimony  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Home  Missionary  Society  —  Methodist  doctrines 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

not  Romanist  — The  Romanists  tolerate  both  creeds  — Cal- 
vinism largely  represented  in  the  Romish  church  —  Methodist 
doctrines  always  powerful  for  good  —  Calvinism  distressing 
and  dangerous, 95-122 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

The  Banian  tree  —  Methodism  a  phenomenon  —  Its  source  — 
The  two  Wesleys  —  John  Wesley  its  true  founder — Sketch 
of  his  life  —  His  birth,  education,  and  introduction  to  the  min- 
istry—The Holy  Club  — Persecution  — The  Holy  Club  not 
the  origin  of  Methodism  proper  —  The  first  Wesleyan  society 

—  Mr.  ^Tesley  in  Georgia — His  persecutions  there — His  re- 
turn —  Whitefield's  testimony  to  the  purity  of  his  life  —  Wes- 
ley's conversion —  Peter  Bohler — Wonderful  effects  of  Wes- 
ley's preaching —  Wesley's  prodigious  labors  —  Terrible  per- 
secution   of    the    Wesleys    and    their    followers  —  Wesley's 
triumphant  death  —  Resemblances  between  Wesley  and  Lu- 
ther—Wesley's  work, 123-164 

CHAPTER  VII. 

EISE  AND   GROWTH  OF  METHODISM. 

The  smitten  rock  —  The  birth  of  Methodism  divine  —  The  Wes- 
leyan Pentecost  —  Results  —  Rise  of  Methodism  in  America 

—  Philip  Embury  —  Barbara  Hick  —  Captain  Webb  —  Rob- 
ert Strawbridge  —  Growth  of  the  mustard  seed — A  false  as- 
sertion corrected  —  Increase  of  American  Methodism  by  de- 
cades—  Percentage    and    ratio    of  its    increase    for   v,oi<-  ~ 


CONTENTS.  IX 

century  —  Growth  of  Methodism  in  New  England  —  Causes 
which  checked  the  ratio  of  its  progress  between  1840  and 
1850  —  Growth  of  New  England  Methodism  compared  to  the 
growth  of  the  Congregationalists  and  Baptists  —  Valuable  ta- 
bles —  God  in  the  growth  of  Methodism,  .....  165-185 


CHAPTER 

SPIRITUAL    RESULTS  OF    METHODISM. 

State  of  England  at  the  rise  of  Methodism  —  A  gloomy  picture 

—  Testimony  of  Dr.  Isaac  Taylor,  Dr.  Morrison,  Dr.  Corbett, 
Rev.  James  Robie  —  Spiritual  condition  of  America  at  the 
rise  of  Methodism  —  Whitefield's  statements  —  Other  testi- 
monies —  Apostacy  of  the  Puritan  churches  after  Whitefield's 
visit  —  Methodism  a  bright  particular  star  in  two  hemispheres 

—  Its  powerful  effects  in  England  and  in  America  —  Testi- 
monies of  Morrison,  Cecil,  Chalmers,  Robert  Hall,  Laurie,  Dr. 
Tyng,  etc.  —  Present  spiritual  vitality  of  Methodism  —  A  silly 
assertion  answered  —  God  the  strength  of  Methodism,  186-202 

CHAPTER  IX. 

METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

Spectre  of  the  Brocken  —  The  illustration  applied  —  The  allega- 
tions of  Messrs.  Graves  and  Cooke  —  The  charge  of  despotism 
false  —  The  occasion  of  the  charge  —  An  a  priori  argument  — 
What  is  despotism  —  No  absolute  authority  in  Methodism  — 
All  its  officers  responsible  —  No  coercive  power  in  Methodism 

—  Its  corner  stone  —  Its  power  of  excommunication  consid 
ered  —  Laymen  can  be  condemned  only  by  the  laity  —  Cen- 


C  CONTENTS. 

tralization  of  Methodism  —  The  Episcopacy  not  a  centralized 
power  —  Power  of  Methodist  bishops  —  Its  limitations  —  The 
appointing  power  —  Power  of  the  General  Conference  —  Its 
limitations  —  The  question  submitted  —  Methodist  church 
property  not  owned  by  its  ministry  —  The  motive  and  aim  of 
Methodist  church  government  —  The  itinerancy  —  Its  sacrifices 
and  success  —  Lay  influence  in  Methodism — Address  to  the 
reader, 203-241 


APPENDIX. 

No.  1.  Pelagianism  and  Arminianism  contrasted,      .    .    .    243 

No.  2.  Calvinism  in  1855  —  Of  God's  eternal  decree  —  Of 
effectual  calling  —  Of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints,     .    245 

No.  3.  Extracts  from  various  authors,  showing  that 
infant  damnation  is  a  logical  sequence  of  Calvin- 
istic  principles, 248 


THE  CONVERT'S  COUNSELLOR, 


CHAPTER   I. 

DUTY   OP   CONVERTS   TO   JOIN   THE   VISIBLE    CHURCH. 

CHRISTIAN  reader,  will  you 
give  me  your  attention,  and 
permit  me  to  commune  with 
you  awhile,  in  the  spirit  of  a 
friend  and  fellow  disciple  ?  We 
are  strangers  to  each  other  in  the 
tflesh,  but  are  we  not  united  in  holy 
brotherhood,  through  our  mutual  faith  in  Je- 
sus? Do  not  our  hearts  beat  in  hallowed 
sympathy,  as  we  bow  together  in  spirit,  at 
the  feet  of  Him  whose  death  was  our  life, 
whose  love  is  our  consolation,  whose  pro- 
mises are  the  light  of  our  steps  ?  Accept, 
then,  my  hand,  with  a  brother's  heart  in  it. 


12  DUTY     OF     CONVERTS 

Give  me  your  confidence.  You  are  a  young 
pilgrim  just  entering  the  way  of  life.  I  en- 
tered that  sacred  path  in  my  youth.  For 
nearly  twenty-five  years  I  have  journeyed 
in  it.  I  have  mingled  much  with  men,  have 
seen  life  in  many  phases,  have  enjoyed 
much,  suffered  much.  I  know  somewhat, 
therefore,  of  the  human  heart,  and  have  gath- 
ered some  of  the  fruits  of  experience.  View- 
ing you  as  a  convert  just  entering  upon  novel 
experiences,  subjected  to  manifold  tempta- 
tions, doubtful  of  yourself,  anxious  to  do 
right,  yet  liable  to  be  misled,  I  feel  my  heart 
warm  toward  you,  and  am  desirous  to  give 
you  such  counsels  as  I  know  will  benefit 
you,  if  you  accept  and  follow  them.  Will 
you  then  give  me  your  attention  and  confi- 
dence ? 

I  address  you  as  recently  converted,  but 
as  undecided  concerning  your  church  rela- 
tions. You  have  been  led  to  Christ,  I  will 
presume,  through  the  instrumentality  of 
Methodism.  If  left  to  your  own  unbiased 


TO   JOIN   THE   VISIBLE   CHURCH.  13 

judgment,  you  would  unhesitatingly  unite 
with  the  Methodist  church.  But  your  asso- 
ciates, relatives,  or  personal  friends  are 
hostile  to  Methodism.  Perhaps  you  reside 
in  a  community  where  Methodism  is  crushed 
down  and  trodden  under  foot  by  proud,  in- 
fluential, sectarian  men.  False  views  of 
Methodism,  the  offsprings  of  a  prejudice 
which  is  willingly  ignorant  of  its  true  char- 
acter and  spirit,  are  whispered  in  your 
ears.  So  much  is  said  to  you,  by  persons 
you  have  ever  esteemed,  that  your  mind  is 
perplexed  and  unsettled.  You  hesitate  and 
wait.  You  do  not  feel  entirely  free  to  re- 
linquish Methodism.  You  are  too  deeply 
indebted  to  it  to  turn  from  it  readily;  yet 
in  consequence  of  what  has  been  said  to  you 
by  others,  your  mind  is  not  satisfied  with 
respect  to  your  duty  to  enter  into  church 
relation  with  it.  Like  a  weaver's  shuttle, 
you  are  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  amid  these 
perplexities,  you  are  tempted  to  join  no 
church  at  all. 


14  DUTY   OP   CONVERTS 

Permit  me  to  be  plain  with  you  at  this 
point,  my  dear  young  friend.  The  sugges- 
tion to  join  no  church  is  from  the  great 
adversary  of  your  soul.  The  friends  who 
harass  you  that  they  may  alienate  you  from 
Methodism,  are  responsible  for  so  disturb- 
ing your  wonted  serenity  as  to  fit  you  for 
the  solicitations  of  the  tempter.  But  you 
must  resist  him,  nevertheless.  You  'must 
join  some  branch  of  the  visible  church  of 
Christ.  Not  to  do  so  is  to  peril  the  safe- 
ty of  your  soul. 

Some  time  ago,  a  bold  but  reckless  sea- 
man determined  to  attempt  the  passage  of 
the  Atlantic  alone  in  an  open  boat.  It  was 
a  daring  thought,  but  he  was  strong  in  pur- 
pose, and  he  made  the  trial  successfully. 
Alone  in  his  frail  bark,  he  crossed  the 
mighty  deep,  braved  all  its  dangers,  outrode 
its  storms,  and  landed  safely  on  the  oppo- 
site shore. 

Since  then,  a  noble  steamship,  like  levia- 
than for  size,  like  the  eagle  for  swiftness, 


TO   JOIN   THE   VISIBLE   CHURCH.  15 

like  behemoth  for  strength,  while  attempting 
the  same  passage,  rushed  upon  an  unseen 
vessel.  The  concussion  opened  the  steam- 
er's gigantic  bosom  to.  the  waves,  and  like 
a  dead  monster  of  the  deep,  she  sunk,  with 
scores  of  her  affrighted  voyagers,  to  the 
invisible  caverns  of  the  seas. 

Thus  a  voyage  which  was  safely  made  by 
a  solitary  seaman  in  an  open  boat,  proved 
fatal  to  scores  who  attempted  it  in  a  noble 
steamship.  But  would  you,  therefore,  prefer 
the  open  boat  to  the  steamer  if  you  were 
about  to  cross  the  ocean? 

You  would  not.  Reasoning  upon  these 
facts,  you  would  say,  that  the  seaman  in  the 
open  boat  was  foolhardy.  The  probabilities 
were  all  against  him.  His  exploit  is  not 
fit  to  be  imitated,  for  it  could  hardly  be 
repeated  by  himself  or  any  other  man.  Of 
the  steamship,  you  would  say  the  few  who 
perished  by  her  fatal  mishap  were  excep- 
tions. Most  who  cross  the  seas  in  such 
vessels  do  so  with  safety,  and,  therefore,  the 


16  DUTY    OP    CONVERTS 

steamship  is  infinitely  preferable  to  the  open 
boat. 

Do  you  not  perceive  the  application  of 
these  illustrations  to  the  question  which 
now  perplexes  you  ?  Do  you  think  of  sail- 
ing over  the  sea  of  life  alone,  without  the 
fellowship  of  the  visible  church?  Behold 
the  folly  of  such  a  purpose  in  the  rashness 
of  that  daring  seaman.  Like  him,  you  may, 
after  many  frightful  experiences,  land  safely 
on  the  bright  shore  beyond.  But  alas,  all 
the  probabilities  are  against  you.  You  are 
more  likely  to  be  wrecked  beneath  some 
treacherous  wave,  than  to  outsail  the  perils 
of  the  voyage.  Thus  reason  points  you 
toward  the  church.  Experience  directs  to 
the  same  path.  Of  the  many  who  have  at- 
tempted a  voyage  to  heaven  out  of  the 
Christian  church,  nearly  all  have  lost  their 
way,  while  yet  almost  in  sight  of  the  point 
of  their  departure.  On  the  contrary,  though 
some  who  join  the  visible  church,  do,  like 
HYMENEUS  and  ALEXANDER,  make  shipwreck 


TO   JOIN   THE   VISIBLE   CHURCH.  17 

of  faith,  yet  the  far  greater  number 
outride  every  storm,  and  land  safely  on  the 
shore  beyond  the  flood.  All  experience  de- 
clares in  favor  of  the  safety  of  seeking 
heaven  by  way  of  the  church:  it  shows  the 
attempt  to  reach  it  independent  of  the 
church  to  be  perilous  in  the  extreme.  Hence 
your  desire  to  make  your  salvation  as  sure 
as  possible,  if  guided  by  the  voices  of  reason 
and  experience,  will  lead  you  to  unite  with 
some  branch  of  the  Christian  church. 

Along  the  channels  leading  to  harbors  oi 
difficult  approach,  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
see  lines  of  painted  buoys.  Those  silent 
but  restless  monitors  serve  the  weary  mari- 
ner as  guides  and  protectors.  Though 
voiceless,  they  assure  him  that  the  citizens 
of  that  port  have  sounded  those  waters  and 
placed  those  lines  of  buoys  to  intimate  that 
it  is  safe  to  steer  within  them,  but  danger- 
ous to  sail  without  them.  Wisely  heedful 
of  their  teaching,  he  .guides  his  bark  along 
the  channel  and  enters  the  haven  with  a 
2 


18  DUTY   OP   CONVERTS 

joyous  heart.  Were  he  blindly  unmindful 
of  their  presence;  were  he,  in  a  spirit  of 
self-conceited  vanity,  to  despise  them,  and 
run  his  ship  upon  sunken  rocks  or  treacher- 
ous banks,  who  would  pity  him  ?  Would  not 
all  men  blame  him  for  his  folly  ?  Would  he 
not  stand  silent  and  self  condemned  in  pres- 
ence of  a  blabbing  world? 

Now,  as  these  buoys  authoritatively,  yet 
kindly,  point  out  the  only  safe  course  for  the 
sea-worn  mariner,  so  the  existence  of  the 
visible  church,  erected  and  preserved  by 
Christ  himself,  is  a  divine  proclamation, 
that  through  its  sacred  portals  the  only  safe 
path  to  heaven  runs.  Would  Jesus  have 
founded  it,  joined  his  first  disciples  to  it, 
called  it  his  "body,"  "loved  it,"  and  pre- 
served it,  as  by  a  perpetual  miracle  even 
against  the  "gates  of  hell,"  if  it  were  not 
necessary  to  the  salvation  of  his  followers  ? 
Did  its  institution  spring  from  the  sugges- 
tions of  caprice,  or  was  it  the  outgrowth  of 
his  wisdom  and  love  ?  You  will  surely 


TO    JOIN    THE    VISIBLE    CHURCH.  19 

acknowledge  it  to  be  the  latter.  How  then 
can  you  neglect  to  join  yourself  to  it,  with- 
out despising  his  wisdom,  exhibiting  a 
measure  of  self-will  utterly  unbecoming  in 
a  disciple,  risking  your  salvation,  and  ex- 
posing yourself  to  the  fate  of  him  whose 
scornful  rejection  of  the  wedding  garment 
overwhelmed  him  with  speechless  shame, 
when  he  was  arraigned  at  the  tribunal  of  his 
offended  Lord? 

Nor  can  you  refuse  to  join  the  visible 
church  without  at  least  a  show  of  unkindness, 
utterly  inconsistent  with  that  love  for  Christ 
which  you  profess.  It  is  the  nature  of  love 
to  yield  itself  to  the  wishes  of  its  object. 
Love  is  obedient.  It  does  not  hesitate  to 
do,  to  suffer,  or  to  die,  if  need  be,  to  please 
its  beloved.  What  a  poor  starveling  your 
love  will  appear,  if  you  decline  to  submit  to 
the  undoubted  will  of  Christ  on  a  point 
which,  while  it  requires  no  real  sacrifice,  is 
almost  absolutely  necessary  to  your  salva- 
tion. Your  refusal  must  at  least  expose 


20  DUTY   OF   CONVERTS 

your   profession   of  love   to  merited  suspi- 
cion. 

Besides,  if  you  stand  unconnected  with 
the  visible  church,  how  can  you  "eat  the 
body  "  and  «  drink  the  blood  "  of  Christ  ? 
"  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me"  is  not  a 
mere  request:  it  is  a  command.  If  it  were 
only  a  whispered  wish,  your  affection  for 
Christ  should  lead  you  to  regard  it  as  an 
imperial  law.  But  it  is  more  than  a  wish. 
It  is  an  unconditional  command,  invested  with 
peculiar  sacredness,  because  given  on  the  eve 
of  that  awful  hour,  which  witnessed  the  dy- 
ing agonies  of  your  Saviour.  A  wish  to 
evade  it  is  treason  to  Christ.  You  cannot 
therefore  desire  to  neglect  it.  But  how  can 
you  obey  it  unless  you  become  a  member 
of  the  visible  church  ?  for  it  is  not  a  secret 
commemoration  of  his  death  that  he  re- 
quires, but  an  open  partaking  of  its  emblems 
in  the  company  of  his  disciples.  Are  you 
not  therefore  bound  to  become  a  member 


TO   JOIN  THE   VISIBLE   CHURCH.  21 

of  the  visible  church,  by  the  command  which 
bids  you  partake  of  the  holy  supper? 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  converts,  harassed 
as  I  suppose  you  to  be,  about  their  church 
relation,  to  be  tempted  to  say:  "I  would 
join  the  church  if  there  was  only  one  de- 
nomination. But  I  am  confused  because  of 
the  multitude  of  sects,  claiming  to  be 
churches  of  Christ;  therefore,  I  will  join 
none." 

Fallacious  conclusion!  Behold  its  folly. 
Yonder  is  a  man  intending  to  cross  the  seas. 
Seeking  a  ship,  he  finds  the  wharves  crowded 
with  every  variety  of  craft  —  schooner,  brig, 
ship,  clipper,  and  steamship.  The  owners 
of  each  insist  on  the  superiority  of  their 
particular  vessel.  After  hearing  their  pleas, 
the  intending  voyager  exclaims,  "  There  are 
so  many  vessels,  I  am  confused.  I  know 
not  which  to  select.  I  will  sail  in  neither  of 
them.  I  will  swim  across  the  seas  alone  ! " 

Now,  I  know  you  pronounce  this  resolu- 
tion absurd  in  the  highest  degree  —  too  ab- 


22  DUTY   OP   CONVERTS,   ETC. 

surd  for  any  -sane  man  to  adopt.  Common 
sense,  you  think,  would  teach  such  a  man 
to  select  that  craft  which  his  judgment, 
after  due  examination,  most  approved. 
Exactly  so.  Go  then,  beloved  convert,  and 
follow  the  dictates  of  sound  common  sense 
with  respect  to  the  multitude  of  sects  around 
you.  Their  number  and  variety  result  from 
the  necessary  diversity  of  human  opinions ; 
and,  constituted  as  the  human  mind  is,  their 
multiplicity  is  probably  a  good  rather  than 
an  evil.  Let  not  this  fact  stumble  you, 
therefore,  but  after  a  due  investigation  of 
th^lr  respective  claims,  select  the  one  which 
your  judgment  can  best  approve,  and  join 
yourself  to  its  communion.  Remember  your 
safety,  your  duty,  your  obligations  to  Christ, 
all  bind  you  to  become  a  member  of  the 
visible  church. 

"  And  THE  LOED  ADDED  to  the  church  daily 
such  as  should  be  saved.'1 

"I  had  rather  be  a  door-keeper  in  the 
house  of  my  God,  than  to  dwell  in  the 
tents  of  wickedness." 


CHAPTER    II. 

METHODIST    CONVERTS     SHOULD   JOIN    A    METHODIST 
CHURCH. 

HAIL  you,  dear  reader,  as  a 
child  of  Methodism.  Your 
parents  may  have  educated  you 
in  a  different  faith.  Your 
past  associations  may  have  been 
with  the  followers  of  another  creed. 
Your  personal  friends,  may  «ror- 
ship  at  other  altars.  Nevertheless,  having 
been  converted  to  Christ  through  Metho- 
dist instrumentalities,  you  are  a  child 
of  Methodism !  God  sent  Methodism  to 
you,  as  he  sent  Ananias  to  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
that  it  might  become  your  spiritual  parent. 
It  found  you  a  poor  unawakened  sinner. 
It  alarmed  you,  persuaded  you,  led  you  to 
the  cross,  taught  you  how  to  believe,  en- 


24         METHODIST   CONVERTS   SHOULD'  JOIN 

couraged  your  first  acts  of  trust,  and  led 
you,  with  the  solicitude  of  a  mother,  through 
the  earliest  steps  of  your  experience  in  the 
way  of  faith.  Under  God,  you  owe  your 
spiritual  life  to  it.  Are  you  not,  then,  one 
of  the  children  of  Methodism  ?  Is  not  the 
Methodist  church  your  spiritual  mother? 

Did  it  ever  strike  you  that  there  is  a 
providence  in  this  delightful  relation  be- 
tween you  and  Methodism  ?  It  must  be  so, 
for  so  important  a  fact  as  your  spiritual  pa- 
rentage could  not  have  been  left  to  chance. 
As  a  Christian,  you  utterly  eschew  the  no- 
tion of  chance.  You  recognise  the  guiding 
hand  of  God  in  every  event,  both  great  and 
small,  from  the  upholding  of  the  spheres  to 
the  fall  of  a  sparrow.  You  must,  therefore, 
concede  that  providence  was  directly  con- 
cerned in  bringing  you  into  your  very 
interesting  relationship  with  Methodism. 
Perhaps  a  little  reflection,  on  the  various 
steps  by  which  you  have  been  led,  will 
unfold  to  your  mind  numerous  combinations 


A  METHODIST    CHURCH.  25 

of  events,  all  tending  to  this  result,  and 
demonstrating  the  presence  of  an  invisible 
but  Almighty  agency.  Can  you  explain  the 
facts  of  your  recent  history  on  any  other 
principle  ?  If  you  deny  it,  are  they  not 
mysterious  and  inexplicable  —  a  tangled 
labyrinth  which  you  cannot  explore  ?  But 
if  you  admit  it,  everything,  though  wonder- 
ful and  overwhelming,  is  at  least  intelligible 
and  plain.  Ought  you  not  then  to  con- 
sider that  the  providence  of  God,  made  you 
the  spiritual  child  of  Methodism? 

But  does  not  this  fact  teach  its  lesson? 
May  it  not  shed  some  light  on  the  question 
of  your  church  relation  ?  Is  there  no  indica- 
tion of  the  divine  will  in  these  mysterious 
leadings  of  his  providence  ?  Why  did  your 
Heavenly  Father  select  a  Methodist  preacher 
to  be  the  instrument  of  your  awakening, 
and  a  Methodist  altar  to  be  the  scene  of 
your  conversion?  He  could  have  led  yon 
within  the  sphere  of  other,  perhaps  nearer, 
instrumentalities.  Why  then  did  He  lead 


26         METHODIST    CONVERTS   SHOULD    JOIN 

you  rather  out  of  their  way,  and  bring  you 
into  spiritual  relationship  with  the  great 
Methodist  family,  if  not  to  teach  you  that 
your  spiritual  interests  could  be  better  pro- 
moted within  its  bosom  than  'elsewhere  ? 
I  will  not  positively  affirm  that  this  is  the 
lesson  of  the  fact,  because  I  can  conceive 
of  exceptional  cases,  in  which  it  would  not 
be  proper  for  a  convert  to  join  the  church 
of  his  spiritual  parentage  j  but  I  do  sincere- 
ly submit  this  question  to  your  judgment: 
Do  not  those  providences  which  brought  you 
within  the  influence  of  Methodism,  give  at 

least  an   intimation,   that    it   is    the   divine 

• 

will  you  should  fix  your  spiritual  home 
within  its  enclosures  ?  I  beg  you  to  resolve 
this  question  on  your  knees. 

By  uniting  with  the  church  which  has  been 
the  instrument  of  your  conversion,  you  will 
meet  with  a  spiritual  sympathy  such  as  you 
can  hardly  expect  to  find  in  another  de- 
nomination. 

As  a  young  convert  you  stand  in  special 


A   METHODIST    CHURCH.  27 

need  of  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  spiritual 
minds.  This  need  will  continue  until  your 
experience  matures,  and  you  acquire  strength 
through  conflict  and  endurance.  Your  faith 
is  weak  and  vacillating — a  reed  shaken  by 
the  wind.  Your  love,  though  glowing,  is 
wavering  —  a  flame  flickering  in  a  draught  of 
air.  In  strength,  you  are  a  lamb  shivering 
in  the  chilly  atmosphere  of  an  ungenial 
spring.  In  skill  to  resist  the  Tempter,  you 
are  as  an  inexperienced  youth  walking  amidst 
the  snares  of  practiced  wickedness.  Thus 
feeble  and  harassed,  you  often  sink  into 
"great  deeps"  pf  despondency,  where  a  "hor- 
ror of  great  darkness,"  like  that  which  fell  on 
the  patriarch  Abraham,  encompasses  your 
trembling  spirit.  Then,  you  challenge  the 
reality  of  your  conversion,  and  are  ready  to 
"  cast  away  your  confidence."  Then,  like  a 
frighted  child,  you  need  to  be  folded  in 
the  warm  breast  of  Christian  sympathy,  that 
your  fear  may  be  calmed,  your  heart  cheered 
into  a  renewal  of  your  acts  of  faith,  by  the 


28      '  METHODIST   CONVERTS   SHOULD    JOIN 

whispers  of  a  tender  and  patient  brotherly 
affection. 

Now,  where  will  you  be  so  likely  to  find 
this  sympathy  as  with  those  who  regard  you 
as  their  spiritual  child?  .They  have  wit- 
nessed the  process  of  your  conversion,  en- 
tered into  your  feelings,  mingled  their  tears 
with  yours,  struggled  with  you  in  the  ago- 
nies of  your  penitential  hour,  soared  with 
you  on  the  wings  of  faith  to  the  Mediator's 
feet,  and  blended  their  voices  with  yours  in 
the  first  songs  of  praise  which  broke  from 
your  renewed  heart.  Hence,  they  love  you 
as  the  child  of  their  labors  and  affections. 
They  have  confidence  in  your  profession  of 
faith.  They  are  eminently  fitted  to  sympa- 
thize with  you,  to  weep  over  your  sorrows  and 
to  rejoice  over  your  joys.  Is  it  prudent 
to  tear  yourself  away  from  such  sympathy  ? 
Is  it  'safe? 

I  do  not  affirm  that  you  cannot  find  genu- 
ine Christian  sympathy  in  a  church  of  another 
name,  because  wherever  there  is  true  piety 


A   METHODIST   CHURCH.  29 

there  is  more  or  less  of  sympathy  with  the 
lambs  of  Christ's  flock.  But  I  do  seriously 
doubt  the  probability  of  your  finding  such 
sympathy  as  you  now  enjoy  in  the  house  of 
your  spiritual  parentage.  Remember,  that 
being  a  child  of  Methodism,  you  will  be  but 
an  adopted  child  in  any  other  branch  of 
the  Christian  church.  You  will  feel  this  fact 
painfully,  if  you  leave  your  true  home.  So 
long  as  you  are  the  object  of  a  zealous  prose- 
lytism,  the  confidence  and  sympathy  of  those 
who  seek  to  win  you  to  their  ranks  will 
appear  strong  and  deep.  But  when  you  have 
once  crossed  the  Rubicon,  and  stand  among 
them  as  a  candidate  for  church  membership, 
a  change  will  be  visible  in  the  spirit  of  your 
new  friends.  Having  lured  you  from  Metho- 
dism, they  will  seek  to  divest  you  of  every 
shred  of  the  Methodistic  garment,  and  to 
shape  the  manifestations  of  your  experience 
in  their  own  denominational  mold.  They  will 
scrutinize  your  conversion,  and  challenge  its 
genuineness,  because  it  was  obtained  among 


30         METHODIST   CONVERTS   SHOULD   JOIN 

the  Methodists.  It  will  be  well  if  they  do 
not  lead  you  to  cast  it  aside  as  mere  excite- 
ment, and  leave  you  to  grope  through  mist 
and  unbelief  after  new  light,  so  that,  after 
all,  you  may  date  your  new  birth  from  the 
period  of  your  connection  with  them,  and 
thus  lose  your  sense  of  obligation  to  your 
true  spiritual  parent.  But  if  you  should 
escape  so  severe  an  ordeal,  you  will,  at  least, 
be  speedily  taught  by  significant  shrugs  and 
chilling  glances,  if  not  by  direct  rebuke,  that 
allusions  to  your  indebtedness  to  Methodism 
are  regarded  as  a  mark  of  bad  taste,  as  an 
offense,  as  a  sign  of  disloyalty  to  your  new 
friends.  In  a  word,  you  will  have  to  ignore 
your  spiritual  parentage  or  be  regarded  as  a 
speckled  bird,  an  oddity,  to  be  endured  but  not 
received  to  the  entire  confidence  of  the  church. 
Perhaps  you  think  these  remarks  are  the 
outflowings  of  prejudice  on  the  part  of  the 
writer.  I  assure  you  they  are  not.  I  love 
and  respect  every  branch  of  the  Christian 
church,  and  believe  that  multitudes  among 


A   METHODIST   CHURCH.  31 

them  would  scorn  to  do  such  things  as  I 
have  described.  But  facts  are  stubborn 
things;  and  they  prove  that  the  animus 
of  the  leading  Calvinist  denominations  is 
decidedly  unfriendly  to  Methodism  —  so 
unfriendly  as  to  look  upon  it  with  a  cer- 
tain affectation  of  contempt,  and  to  speak 
incredulously,  if  not  with  absolute  doubt,  of 
the  genuineness  of  its  religious  experiences. 
The  existence  of  this  unfriendly  animus 
is  proved  by  certain  recent  publications,  and 
the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  received 
by  the  denominations  they  represent.  In 
one  of  these  works,  written  by  a  prominent 
Congregationalist  minister,*  it  is  boldly  as- 
serted that  "Methodism  is  not  a 'branch  of 
the  church  of  Christ ;"  that  "  its  aggression 
is  not  one  of  a  true  religion  but  of  a  false ; " 
that  Methodist  revivals  are  "  simply  corrup- 
tions of  revivals,"  "  no  part  of  Christianity, 
but  scandals  in  its  way ; "  that  they  consti- 
tute "  what  may  be  called  a  religious  com- 


*  Rev.  Parsons  Cooke. 


32         METHODIST    CONVEETS   SHOULD    JOIN 

edy;"  that  they  are  "comic  operations;"  and 
that  of  Methodist  conversions  about  nine- 
tenths  of  the  whole  are  found  to  be  spurious 
after  a  longer  or  shorter  trial ! ! " 

Now  the  volume  which  contains  these 
statements  has  been  endorsed  by  most  of 
the  leading  presses  of  the  Congregational 
and  Presbyterian  churches,  and  by  many  of 
their  chief  ministers  and  home  missionaries 
in  various  parts  of  the  country.  I  know 
there  are  numerous  individuals  in  those 
denominations,  who  dissent  strongly  from 
the  views  of  this  writer ;  yet  their  dissent 
cannot  be  general,  it  cannot  exist  in  the  most 
influential  quarters,  or  it  would  find  expres- 
sion in  earnest  protests  through  the  press. 
The  fact  that  no  such  protest  has  appeared, 
except  in  a  single  instance  in  which  the  pro- 
testant  was  originally  a  Methodist  minister, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  endorsements 
it  has  received,  proves  that  the  animus  of 
that  book  is  in  harmony  with  the  animus  of 
the  above  named  churches. 


A   METHODIST    CHURCH.  33 

Another  volume  from  the  pen  of  a  Baptist 
minister,*  written  in  the  same  spirit,  and 
placing  Methodism  outside  the  pale  of 
Evangelism,  has  been  received  with  similar 
favor  among  the  Baptists. 

These  are  melancholy  facts,  which  it  is 
painful  even  to  record.  I  do  not  name  them 
to  create  prejudices  in  your  breast  against 
Christians  of  other  churches,  but  merely  to 
sustain  what  has  been  said  concerning  their 
views  of  Methodist  conversions.  They  do 
cherish  a  great  doubt  concerning  the  genu- 
ineness of  a  Methodist  conversion.  How, 
then,  can  you,  who  are  a  Methodist  convert, 
go  among  them  without  having  the  sound- 
ness of  your  conversion  doubted?  without 
being  subjected  to  a  suspicious  scrutiny  which 
it  is  painful  to  an  honorable  mind  to  endure  ? 
How,  under  such  circumstances,  can  you  hope 
to  find  that  spiritual  sympathy  in  their  commu- 
nions which  is  one  of  the  great  wants  of  your 

*  The  Great  Iron  Wheel,  by  Rev.  J.  R.  Graves. 

3 


34        METHODIST   CONVERTS   SHOULD   JOIN 

renewed  life  ?  Plainly  you  cannot.  Are  you, 
then,  at  liberty  to  put  your  salvation  in 
peril  by  rushing  from  the  warm  atmosphere 
of  love  and  sympathy  which  now  surrounds 
you,  into  one  of  cold  and  unsympathizing 
scrutiny  and  suspicion? 

A  poet  has  given  beautiful  expression  to 
the  desire  which  carries  an  inexperienced 
youth  to  sea,  and  which  is  succeeded  by  a 
desire  to  return  home  a  thousand  fold  more 
intense,  in  the  following  lines : 

"  See  how  from  port  the  vessel  glides, 
With  streamered  masts  o'er  halcyon  tides : 
Its  laggard  course  the  sea-boy  chides, 

All  loth  that  calms  should  bind  him; 

But  distance  only  chains  him  more 

With  love  links  to  his  native  shore, 

And  sleep's  best  dream  is  to  restore 

The  home  he  left  behind  him." 

In  my  walks  as  a  pastor,  I  have  met 
with  many  persons  whose  experience  in  the 
matter  of  their  church  relation  resembled 
that  of  the  poet's  "sea-boy."  When  they 
were  young  converts,  the  attentions  of  influ- 


A  METHODIST   CHUECH.  35 

ential  men,  the  appeal  to  their  vanity  which 
was  conveyed  in  the  attempt  to  proselyte 
them,  the  idea  of  finding  a  culture  or  a  social 
status  superior  to  Methodism,  filled  them 
with  desire,  like  that  of  the  sea-boy,  to 
leave  the  sunny  port  of  Methodism,  where 
they  were  converted,  and  to  enter  another 
church.  But  once  away  from  their  true 
spiritual  home,  like  the  sea-boy,  they  missed 
its  genial  spirit,  its  warm,  hearty  sympathies, 
and  yet  felt  bound  to  it  by  "  love-links " 
they  could  not  break.  They  regretted  what 
they  had  done,  yet  did  not  feel  free  to  re- 
trace their  steps.  They  were  unsatisfied 
and  ill  at  ease  in  the  relation  they  had  cho- 
sen, and  longed  for  a  fair  opportunity  to 
return  to  their  true  spiritual  home.  And 
such,  beloved  reader,  may  be  your  expe- 
rience if  you  suffer  yourself  to  be  beguiled 
from  your  true  spiritual  home  by  any  motive 
lower  than  a  conviction  of  duty. 

I  have  said  that  Providence,  by  giving  you 
your  spiritual  parentage   in    the   house   of 


36         METHODIST    CONVERTS   SHOULD   JOIN 

Methodism,  indicated  its  will  concerning  your 
true  church  home.  I  say  indicated  because 
there  may  be  circumstances  which  would  ren- 
der it  improper  for  a  convert  to  unite  with 
the  church  which  led  him  to  Christ.  Should 
that  church,  for  example,  hold  doctrines 
which  he  does  not  believe,  it  could  not  be 
his  duty  to  join  it.  To  profess  faith  in 
dogmas  which  the  understanding  rejects,  is  a 
violation  of  the  law  of  truth.  Whoever  does 
so,  corrupts  his  moral  nature  and  offends 
God.  Hence,  in  determining  your  church 
relation,  you  are  solemnly  bound  to  consider 
the  question  of  creeds.  Should  you  delib- 
erately profess  a  creed  which  you  do  not 
heartily  believe,  you  would  certainly  peril,  if 
not  assuredly  forfeit,  your  peace  of  mind. 
You  must  be  honest  before  God. 

"  I  had  rather  every  hair  of  my  head  were 
burned,  if  it  were  "never  so  much  worth,  than 
that  I  should  forsake  my  faith  and  opinion, 
which  is  the  true  faith." 

Such  was   the  noble   utterance  of  AGNES 


A  METHODIST   CHURCH.  37 

STANLEY,  when  she  stood  in  presence  of 
BISHOP  BONNER,  charged  with  heresy  and 
threatened  with  martyrdom.  A  fiery  death 
awaited  her  if  she  persisted  in  maintaining 
her  opinions.  Life  and  liberty  were  hers, 
would  she  but  profess  a  faith  she  did  not 
believe.  But  her  noble  soul  spurned  a  life 
which  could  not  be  retained  except  at  the 
price  of  falsehood.  And  for  simply  main- 
taining her  convictions,  she  passed  through 
the  fires  of  Smithfield  to  the  realms  of 
ineffable  delight. 

"Was  Agnes  Stanley  right  ?  Was  it  worth 
while  to  sacrifice  life  for  opinion's  sake? 
Aye,  it  was.  Had  she  through  fear  of  death, 
stained  her  soul  with  falsehood,  she  would 
have  forfeited  self-respect,  the  admiration  of 
the  good,  and  the  favor  of  God. 

But  if  Agnes  Stanley  did  right,  what  shall 
we  say  of  those  modern  Christians  who 
profess  a  creed  they  do  not  believe  ?  I 
have  frequently  referred  members  of  Calvin- 
iet  churches  to  their  creeds  and  covenants, 


38        METHODIST   CONVEBTS   SHOULD   JOIN 

as  teaching  ultra  Calvinism,  and  they  have 
replied,  "0,  we  don't  believe  that.  We 
think  pretty  much  as  you  do."  Alas,  what 
a  dull  perception  of  the  claims  of  truth  and 
honor  such  replies  imply !  The  parties  had 
publicly,  solemnly,  consciously,  professed  a 
creed  which  their  understandings  rejected. 
Their  profession  was  therefore  a  perpetual 
lie.  Such  minds  would  have  no  trouble 
with  Bishop  Bonner.  The  fires  of  Smithfield 
would  never  fright  them.  The  spirit  of 
Agnes  Stanley  is  not  in  them.  Can  you  de- 
sire to  tread  in  their  steps  ? 

Now,  I  take  it  for  granted  that  in  doctrine 
you  are  a  Methodist.  You  believe  in  the 
great  truth  of  universal  atonement.  You 
believe  that  Jesus  "  tasted  death  for  every 
man  j  "  that  grace,  quickening  and  saving,  is 
tendered  to  every  man,  rendering  every  man 
morally  able  to  accept  the  Saviour;  that 
freedom  from  the  guilt  and  dominion  of  sin, 
is  attainable  in  this  life,  and  that  a  truly 
converted  man  may  so  fall  away  as  to  finally 


A  METHODIST   CHURCH.  39 

perish.  Believing  these  truths,  I  do  not  see 
how  you  can  join  a  Calvinist  church  without 
incurring  the  guilt  of  a  perpetual  lie  !  For 
Calvinism  teaches  altogether  another  doc- 
trine. Its  atonement,  though  nominally  uni- 
versal, is  in  fact  an  atonement  for  the  elect 
only,  because  none  else  can  by  any  possi- 
bility be  saved  by  it.  It  teaches  that  effect- 
ual or  saving  grace  is  given  to  the  elect 
alone ;  that  sin  must  retain  a  measure  of  its 
power  over  a  believer  so  long  as  he  remains 
in  the  flesh ;  and  that  when  once  a  man  is 
truly  converted,  his  final  salvation  is  a  cer- 
tainty —  he  cannot  fall  so  as  to  finally  perish. 
To  these  odious  doctrines  you  must  subscribe 
if  you  enter  a  Calvinist  church.  Its  creed 
may  be  written  so  as  to  keep  its  most  offen- 
sive dogmas  in  the  shade,  but  its  construction 
is  as  I  have  stated.  If  then  you  are  a  Meth- 
odist in  your  doctrinal  opinions,  you  cannot 
subscribe  to  the  creed  of  a  Calvinist  church 
without  setting  your  hand  to  a  deliberate 
falsehood.  Are  you  not  then  bound  by  the 


40         METHODIST   CONVERTS   SHOULD    JOIN 

dictates  of  truth  and  honor  to  unite  with 
the  Methodist  church  ? 

Let  me  illustrate  this  point  with  a  fact. 
I  knew  a  gentleman  who,  at  the  time  of  his 
conversion,  was  solicited  to  unite  with  a 
Calvinist  church.  He  objected,  saying :  "  My 
doctrinal  opinions  are  not  in  harmony  with 
your  articles  of  faith." 

"  0,  never  mind  that,"  replied  the  pastor. 
"I  will  represent  you  to  the  Committee. 
You  need  not  appear  before  them  at  all." 

Satisfied  with  this  acceptance  of  his  pro- 
test against  its  Calvinism,  he  consented  to 
join  the  church.  But  when  he  presented 
himself  for  that  purpose,  the  creed  and 
covenant  were  read  to  him,  and  he  found 
he  was  expected  to  give  his  assent  to  opin- 
ions against  which  he  had  uttered  his  sol- 
emn protest  to  the  pastor.  He  felt  like 
one  entrapped.  But,  hesitating  to  explain 
himself  so  publicly,  he  reluctantly  yielded  to 
the  circumstances,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
church. 


A   METHODIST    CHURCH.  41 

Still  his  conscience  was  ill  at  ease.  He 
was  dissatisfied  both  with  himself  and  his 
pastor.  With  himself,  because  he  was  pro- 
fessing doctrines  which  his  understanding 
rejected  ,*  with  his  pastor,  for  having  caught 
him  with  guile.  Many  and  severe  were  his 
mental  struggles  as  to  his  duty.  At  length, 
being  moved  to  make  an  entire  consecration 
of  himself  to  God,  he  saw  clearly  that  he 
must  either  renounce  his  false  doctrinal  pro- 
fession, or  to  use  his  own  words,  "go  to 
hell."  He  hesitated  no  longer.  He  broke 
the  chain  which  bound  him  to  a  Calvinist 
church,  found  peace  of  mind,  united  with  a 
Methodist  church,  and  subsequently  became 
a  preacher  of  the  gospel.  That  he  did  right 
in  thus  honestly  conforming  his  profession 
to  his  faith,  you  will  not  deny.  What  then  ? 
Go  thou,  and  do  likewise. 

You  must,  above  all  things,  maintain  your 
integrity.  Depend  upon  it  there  is  safety  in 
the  path  of  duty  only. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MEANS  OF  GRACE  PECULIAR  TO  METHODISM. 

JHEN  the  ancient  Crusader,  in- 
flamed with  desire  to  rescue  the 
Holy  Land  from  the  sceptre  of 
the  Saracen,  consecrated  him- 
self to  that  romantic  enterprise,  he 
at  once  threw  his  whole  soul  into 
the  work  of  preparation.  Regarding 
his  pilgrimage  as  the  grand  object  of  his  life, 
he  sacrificed  every  other  interest  and  affec- 
tion at  its  shrine.  He  forsook  his  dearest 
friends;  sold  his  domains;  alienated  his 
rights  of  sovereignty ;  and  lavished  his  gold 
that  he  might  contribute  to  the  success  of 
the  crusade.  In  making  preparation  for 
his  military  duties,  he  purchased  armor  of 
proof,  weapons  of  truest  temper,  steeds  of 
highest  mettle;  he  selected  for  his  leaders 
men  of  true  courage  and  sagacity,  and  chose 


MEANS   OP   GRACE,   ETC.  43 

a  route  most  likely  to  lead  him  speedily  and 
safely  to  the  scene  of  conflict.  Thus  he 
surrendered  everything  to  the  claim  of  his 
soul's  ideal  of  duty  and  glory. 

May  you  not,  beloved  convert,  learn  a 
lesson  from  the  Crusader's  spirit?  Does 
not  his  action  exhibit,  in  bold  relief,  the 
principle  which  should  guide  you  in  deter- 
mining your  church  relation  ?  Like  him  you 
have  consecrated  yourself  to  a  great  life 
work — an  infinitely  greater  work  than  his. 
His  object  was  to  stand  a  conqueror  on  the 
spot  of  his  Lord's  crucifixion;  yours  is  to 
stand  victorious  before  the  throne  of  your 
Saviour's  glory.  If  his  ideal  led  him  to 
make  stern  sacrifices,  and  to  adopt  a  course 
of  self-discipline  adapted  to  the  end  he  had 
chosen  for  himself,  ought  not  yours  to  bind 
you  to  similar  sacrifices  and  discipline  ? 
Ought  you  not  to  subject  all  your  actions 
to  the  demands  of  your  purpose  to  reach 
heaven  ?  Ought  not  all  your  voluntary  rela- 
tions to  society  to  be  determined  by  the 


44  MEANS    OP    GRACE 

question  of  their  fitness  to  contribute  to 
your  great  life  aim?  Above  all,  should  not 
your  church  relation  be  settled  by  the  adap- 
tation of  the  particular  church  you  may  se- 
lect to  promote  your  salvation? 

If  to  these  interrogatories  you  respond 
affirmatively,  you  are  bound  to  select  a 
church  home  with  that  body  of  Christians, 
whose  spirit,  usages,  and  institutions  are  best 
fitted  to  aid  you  in  working  out  your  salva- 
tion. The  social  status,  the  wealth,  the 
culture  of  a  church,  are  inferior  and  subordi- 
nate questions ;  though  too  many  converts,  to 
their  great  spiritual  loss,  have  allowed  them 
to  be  controlling  and  decisive.  I  hope  better 
things  of  you.  I  take  you  to  be  an  earnest 
convert,  to  whom  "  all  things "  are  « loss," 
if  you  may  but  "  win  Christ."  You  will, 
therefore,  be  governed  by  the  question, 
which  church  is  best  fitted  by  its  peculiar 
institutions,  doctrines,  and  spirit  to  help  me 
to  heaven  ? 

Now  if  you  take  this  principle   for  your 


PECULIAR  TO  METHODISM.  45 

guide,  I  have  no  doubt  of  its  leading  you 
into  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Within 
her  enclosures,  in  addition  to  all  that  is  val- 
uable in  the  preaching  and  ordinances  com- 
mon to  all  Christian  denominations,  you  will 
find  some  precious  advantages,  which  you 
cannot  find  outside  the  pale  of  Methodism. 
I  will  name  some  of  them. 

You  will  find  in  Methodism  such  a  degree 
of  direct  and  habitual  culture  of  the  great 
elements  of  the  Christian  life,  as  is  found  in 
no  other  denomination. 

The  Christian  life  consists  chiefly  in  the 
exercise  of  right  affections  toward  God.  I 
do  not  affirm  that  it  includes  nothing  more 
than  love,  because  an  enlightened  understand- 
ing, a  submissive  will,  and  an  obedient  life, 
are  essential  to  it,  and  are,  in  fact,  included 
in  it.  But  I  do  assert  that  love  to  God,  as 
manifested  in  Christ,  is  the  principal  element 
of  the  Christian  life.  "  Love,"  says  WESLEY, 
"  is  the  end,  the  sole  end  of  every  dispensa- 
tion of  God,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 


46  MEANS   OF   GEACE 

to  the  consummation  of  all  things ;"  and  the 
apostle  John  observes,  "  Every  one  that 
loveth  is  born  of  God,  and  knoweth  God." 
So  that  he  who  loves  has  spiritual  life.  He 
who  loves  not  is  a  stranger  to  that  life, 
is  dead  to  God,  is  not  born  of  God,  has  not 
spiritual  vitality. 

But  this  love  is  the  offspring  of  faith,  de- 
pends upon  faith,  grows  or  declines,  as  faith 
is  stronger  or  weaker.  The  truth  which 
faith  grasps  is  the  germ  of  love.  The  divine 
message  which  faith  receives,  the  glorious 
facts  to  which  it  gives  credence,  constitute 
the  food  which  stimulates  love  and  secures 
its  growth.  Without  faith,  love  could  not 
have  birth  or  growth  in  the  human  soul. 
Hence,  faith  and  love  are  the  two  grand 
elements  of  the  Christian  life.  He  who 
believes  most  earnestly,  and  with  the  most 
simplicity,  will  love  most.  He  who  has  the 
strongest  faith  and  the  warmest  love  will 
have  the  most  spiritual  vitality,  will  grow 
most  rapidly  in  moral  power  and  beauty. 


PECULIAB  TO  METHODISM.  47 

Now,  if  you  look  carefully  into  the  history 
of  Methodism,  you  will  find  that  it  has,  from 
the  beginning,  given  singular  attention  to  the 
cultivation  of  these  two  grand  elements  of 
the  Christian  life.  1.  In  its  preaching,  its 
literature,  its  hymns,  in  its  devotional  servi- 
ces, in  the  lives  of  its  founders  and  repre- 
sentative minds,  it  has  always  urged  the 
duty  of  an  earnest,  undoubting  reception  of 
the  truth,  with  singular  intensity.  Its  preach- 
ing has  entrenched  itself  in  the  religious 
consciousness  of  its  hearers,  to  which  it  has 
invariably  appealed  with  an  authority  which 
has  proved  itself  irresistible,  and  com- 
manded, so  to  speak,  the  belief  of  men  in 
the  inspiration  of  the  word  of  God.  An  un- 
shrinking faith  in  the  divine  word,  accom- 
panied by  a  simple,  unrestrained  personal 
affection  for  God  in  Christ  —  "  an  individual- 
ized spiritual  life" — has  been  the  most 
striking  characteristic  of  its  teachings,  from 
the  day  of  Mr.  Wesley's  conversion  until 
now.  2.  While  it  has  not  neglected  to  in- 


48  MEANS   OP   GKACE 

struct  its  disciples  in  those  great  theological 
truths  which  enlighten  the  understanding, 
and  teach  men  to  conceive  right  views  of 
divine  things,  it  has  given  especial  attention 
to  the  culture  of  religious  experience  —  of 
emotional  piety.  Other  denominations  have 
trusted  chiefly  to  the  effect  of  doctrinal  and 
ethical  disquisitions,  without  seeking  to  stim- 
ulate their  hearers  to  the  exercise  of  faith 
and  love  by  direct  exhortation  and  personal 
persuasion.  Methodism  does  both.  It  un- 
folds the  truth.  It  also  habitually  enforces 
it  with  tears,  entreaties,  exhortations.  It 
struggles  to  relieve  men  of  their  doubts  and 
fears,  and  urges  them  to  cast  their  helpless 
spirits  fearlessly  upon  God  in  Christ,  as  on 
the  bosom  of  a  Father,  who  is  not  merely 
willing,  but  infinitely  anxious  to  save.  The  re- 
sult of  this  has  hitherto  been  a  stronger,  more 
cheerful  faith,  a  more  marked  experience,  a 
deeper  religious  emotion,  stronger  affection 
for  God,  than  have  been  common  in  other 
bodies  of  Christians. 


PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.  49 

The  peculiar  doctrines  of  Methodism  have 
also  a  direct  tendency  to  stimulate  the  Chris- 
tian life,  and  thereby  to  promote  its  growth. 

By  using  the  phrase  "  peculiar  doctrines  of 
Methodism,"  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be  under- 
stood that  Methodism  has  introduced  any 
novelties  into  her  theology.  No.  The  doc- 
trines of  Methodism  are  as  old  as  the  gospel. 
Jesus  taught  them.  So  did  his  apostles  and 
their  successors,  through  the  purest  periods 
of  the  history  of  the  church.  Many  of  the 
"  Reformers,"  also,  both  in  England  and  Ger- 
many, were  able  advocates  of  her  character- 
istic doctrines.  They  are  not  novelties, 
therefore ;  though  viewed  in  relation  to  the 
churches  which  follow  the  theological  system 
of  John  Calvin,  and  to  their  distinct,  earnest 
enunciation,  many  of  them  are  now  peculiar 
to  Methodism. 

These   peculiar   tenets   have   a  beautiful, 

Scriptural  fitness  to  promote  faith  and  love 

in  the  hearts  of  men.     By  teaching  the  death 

of  Jesus  to  be  the  price  of  the  gracious  pro- 

4 


50  MEANS    OP   GRACE 

bation,  granted  to  the  human  race  for  the 
express  purpose  of  restoring  to  righteous- 
ness as  many  as  would  consent  to  be  regene- 
rated by  the  Divine  Spirit,  Methodism  ex- 
hibits the  character  of  God  in  a  light  so  just, 
so  impartial,  so  loving,  so  earnest  to  save, 
that  men  have  little  ground  left  to  cavil  or  to 
doubt,  and  none  to  presume ;  while  they  are 
powerfully  moved  to  love  and  seek  God,  who 
is  seen  to  be  at  once  both  good  and  just. 
By  its  clear  enunciation  of  the  doctrines  of 
justification  by  faith  only,  of  the  witness 
of  the  Spirit,  of  the  possibility  of  complete 
victory  over  sin,  it  awakens  the  hopes,  satis- 
fies the  aspirations,  and  encourages  the 
efforts  of  such  as  seek  to  be  Christians 
indeed.  By  its  theory  of  the  possibility  of 
falling  from  grace  so  as  to  finally  perish,  it 
erects  a  strong  barrier  against  the  return  of 
a  believer  to  his  old  sins.  Thus  its  views  of 
truth  give  it  an  immense  advantage  over 
those  churches  which  teach  the  dogmas  of 
Calvin — dogmas  which  exhibit  God  in  an  as- 


PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.  51 

pect  so  repulsive,  so  uncertain  as  to  whom  he 
is  willing  to  save,  so  partial  to  his  selected 
favorites,  so  unjust  to  the  reprobated,  and  so 
concealed  even  from  his  elect,  that  it  must  be 
exceedingly  difficult  to  lead  men  to  exercise 
saving  faith,  and  almost  impossible  to  awaken 
that  simple,  peaceful,  trustful  love,  which  is 
the  essence  of  the  Christian  life,  and  the 
glory  of  Methodist  "  church-life." — The  re- 
sult of  this  advantage  is  seen  in  her  superior 
growth.  Her  peculiar  doctrines  being  pe- 
culiarly scriptural,  are  peculiarly  efficacious 
in  bringing  men  to  Christ  and  leading  them 
to  heaven. 

The  peculiar  institutions  of  Methodism  are 
also  eminently  fitted  to  develope  the  elements 
of  the  Christian  life. 

The  Christian  life,  like  life  in  all  its 
forms,  is  active.  Its  tendency  is  to  activity. 
It  always  seeks  to  expend  its  forces  in  its 
legitimate  sphere.  Repel  this  tendency, 
check  this  force,  and  it  will  roll  back  upon 
itself  and  die.  To  be  healthfully  developed 


52  MEANS    OF   GRACE 

it  must  be  permitted  to  flow  out  in  fit  ex- 
pression, in  praise,  in  acknowledgment,  in 
acts  of  obedience,  in  works  of  benevolence, 
in  the  performance  of  duty.  This  is  its  law, 
and  it  must  be  obeyed. 

Methodism  has  always  recognized  this  im- 
portant principle.  It  is  incorporated  into 
its  very  organization,  and  its  peculiar  institu- 
tions are  therefore  admirably  fitted  to  de- 
velop the  spiritual  life  of  its  members.  Look 
at  its  class  meetings,  and  love  feasts :  how 
they  educate  the  believer  to  form  the  habit 
of  giving  expression  to  the  conceptions  of 
faith,  and  the  raptures  of  love.  How  they 
lure  him  to  obey  that  first  prompting  of  the 
religious  life,  to  attempt  the  salvation  of 
others,  of  which  every  true  disciple  is  con- 
scious. How  suggestive,  too,  of  social  duties 
are  those  meetings,  providing  as  they  do  an 
opportunity  for  the  confession  of  faults,  the 
utterances  of  desire,  and  the  admonitions  of 
wisdom.  So,  also,  the  Methodistic  prayer 
meeting  is  an  arena  for  the  development 


PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.  53 

of  the  spiritual  life.  It  is  a  battle-field,  in 
which  every  member  is  taught  to  win  souls, 
to  fight  for  the  extension  of  Christ's  king- 
dom. Lay  preaching  is  also  productive  of 
much  enlargement  to  the  spiritual  life  of 
Methodism.  By  introducing  thousands  of 
valuable  minds  into  spheres  of  activity,  it 
developes  their  life,  and  leads  to  the  increase 
of  that  life  in  others.  Nor  is  the  itinerancy 
of  Methodism  without  its  influence  in  this 
direction.  By  the  frequent  introduction  of 
new  pastors  into  its  pulpits,  it  ensures  the 
constant,  varied,  energetic  enunciation  of 
those  great  fundamental  truths  of  our  holy 
religion,  which,  applied  by  the  Divine  Spirit, 
become  the  germ  and  nutriment  of  the  divine 
life  to  those  who  receive  them. 

We  doubt  if  the  constant  preaching  of 
these  great,  central,  saving  truths  is  possible 
to  a  settled  ministry,  which  is  compelled  to 
distribute  general  truths,  and  occupy  itself 
with  single  points,  to  avoid  sameness  and 
repetition.  But  the  itinerancy  of  Methodism 


54  MEANS    OF   GRACE 

keeps  them  before  its  congregations,  the 
same  in  substance,  but  in  ever  varied  forms 
of  expression  and  diverse  modes  of  illustra- 
tion, and  thereby  becomes  a  powerful  means 
of  stimulating  the  growth  of  the  spiritual 
life.  Thus,  all  that  is  peculiar  to  the  Metho- 
distic  organization,  is  strikingly — may  I  not 
add  philosophically?  —  adapted  to  develop 
the  Christian  life. 

In  its  provision  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
highest  forms  of  Christian  fellowship,  Meth- 
odism stands  peerless  among  the  churches. 

One  great  purpose  of  Christianity  is  to 
unite  mankind  in  bonds  of  holy  fellowship  with 
God  and  with  one  another.  How  beautifully 
and  tenderly  this  idea  is  brought  to  view  in 
the  sacerdotal  prayer  of  Christ,  where  he 
asks  for  his  disciples,  "  That  they  all  may 
be  ONE  ;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I 
in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  ONE  IN  us 
*  *  *  That  they  may  be  one,  EVEN  AS  WE 

ARE    ONE  ! ! " 

The  fellowship  portrayed  in  this  passage 


PECULIAR  TO   METHODISM.  55 

is  no  cold,  formal,  heartless  unity,  but  com- 
munion and  sympathy  in  the  highest  possible 
degree, —  such  communion  as  exists  between 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  "  That  they  may  be 
one,  EVEN  AS  WE  ABE  ONE."  What  ineffable, 
delightful  fellowship  is  this  !  "  It  implies," 
says  FOOTE,  in  his  School  of  Christ,  "  sympa- 
thy, oneness  of  mind,  mutual  understanding 
and  agreement,  familiar  and  friendly  inter- 
course, the  responsive  beat  of  heart  to 
heart,  soul  answering  to  soul,  as  face 
answers  to  face  in  water  " — "  a  fellowship 
of  love  to  an  unseen  Saviour,  a  fellowship 
of  joys,  hopes  and  fears,  that  lie  quite  beyond 
the  circle  of  a  natural  man's  experience." 

This  prayer  of  Christ  finds  constant  and 
universal  utterance  in  the  spiritual  aspira- 
tions of  his  true  disciples.  One  of  the  first 
desires  of  the  converted  mind  is  for  such 
fellowship.  "01"  it  exclaims,  "  that  I  had 
some  one  in  whom  I  might  discern  the  re- 
flection of  my  own  soul,  and  from  whom  I 
might  receive  back  again  the  expression  of 


56  MEANS    OF    GRACE 

my  own  confiding  affection ! "  It  was  this 
aspiration,  unchecked  by  cold  suspicion, 
which  led  the  primitive  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity to  seek  that  affectionate  communion 
which  is  so  glowingly  described  by  the  annal- 
ist of  the  apostles.  "  Knit  together  in  love," 
they  met  in  bands,  "  continuing  daily  with  one 
accord  in  the  temple,  and  breaking  of  bread 
from  house  to  house,  did  eat  their  meat  with 
gladness  and  singleness  of  heart."  They  spoke 
to  each  other  in  "  psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual 
songs,"  rejoiced  with  those  that  did  rejoice, 
and  wept  with  those  that  wept.  They  "  ex- 
horted one  another  daily,"  bore  "one 
another's  burdens,"  confessed  their  "  faults 
one  to  another,"  and  prayed  "  one  for 
another."  Thus  they  enjoyed  the  "  commu- 
nion of  saints  "  in  a  very  high  degree ;  and, 
by  their  practice,  illustrated  the  method  of 
the  spiritual  life,  wherever  it  is  permitted 
to  unfold  itself  unhindered  by  unscriptural 
prejudices  and  unevangelical  customs. 

If  you   consult   the   biography  of    deeply 


PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.  57 


pious  men,  of  any  sect,  you  will  find  them, 
when  in  their  healthiest  state  of  mind,  seek- 
ing this  sort  of  intercourse  with  their  fellow 
Christians.  MB.  WESLEY  shortly  after  his 
conversion  was  so  anxious  for  the  fellowship 
of  experienced  Christians,  that  he  actually 
made  a  journey  from  England  to  Germany, 
that  he  might  enjoy  it  with  the  followers 
of  COUNT  ZINZENDORP,  at  Hernhutt.  His 
motives  are  stated  in  his  journal  in  these 
words  :  — 

"  My  weak  mind  could  not  thus  bear  to  be 
sawn  asunder.  And  I  hoped  the  conversing 
with  those  holy  men  who  were  themselves 
living  witnesses  to  the  full  power  of  faith, 
and  yet  able  to  bear  with  those  that  are 
weak,  would  be  a  means  under  God,  of  so 
establishing  my  soul,  that  I  might  go  on 
from  faith  to  faith,  and  from  strength  to 
strength." 

The  same  desire  led  DR.  CHALMERS  to 
form  a  very  close  spiritual  intimacy  with  his 
friend  MB.  J.  ANDERSON.  With  this  gen- 


58  MEANS    OF   GRACE 

tleman  Dr.  C.  enjoyed  a  very  intimate  re- 
ligious fellowship.  Their  intercourse  aimed 
at,  the  very  thing  which  the  Methodist  class 
meeting  is  designed  to  accomplish,  —  the 
communication  of  religious  experience.  Dr. 
C.  was  led  to  practice  it  at  first,  by  the  im 
pulses  of  his  spiritual  life.  In  the  following 
passage  he  defends  it  with  the  skill  of  a 
philosopher. 

"  I  am  very  much  interested  in  the  progress 
of  your  sentiments.  This,  in  the  language 
of  good  but  despised  Christians,  is  called  the 
communication  of  your  religious  experience. 
There  is  fanaticism  annexed  to  the  term ;  but 
this  is  a  mere  bugbear;  and  I  count  it 
strange  that  that  very  evidence  which  is  held 
in  such  exclusive  respect  in  every  other  de- 
partment of  inquiry,  should  be  so  despised 
and  laughed  at  when  applied  to  the  progress 
of  a  human  being  in  that  greatest  of  all 
transitions,  from  a  state  of  estrangement 
to  a  state  of  intimacy  with  God ;  from  the 
terror  of  His  condemnation  to  an  affecting 


PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.  59 

sense  of  His  favor,  and  friendship,  and 
reconciled  presence ;  from  the  influence  of 
earthly  and  debasing  affections,  to  the  influ- 
ence of  those  new  and  heavenly  principles 
which  the  Spirit  of  God  establishes  in  the 
heart  of  every  believer.  This  is  what  our 
Saviour  calls  l  passed  from  death  unto  life.' 
My  prayer  for  both  of  us  is,  that  'it  may  be 
made  sure,'  and  that '  hereby  we  may  know 
that  He  dwelleth  in  us  and  we  in  Him,  that 
he  hath  given  us  of  His  Spirit.'  " — Memoirs 
of  Dr.  Chalmers,  vol.  i.,  p.  255. 

It  was  to  meet  this  want  of  the  spiritual 
life,  that  MB.  WESLEY  introduced  the  CLASS 
MEETING  into  the  organism  of  Methodism. 
He  knew  that  the  spiritual  life  of  believers 
could  not  be  healthfully  developed  unless 
they  enjoyed  constant  fellowship  with  each 
other,  and  he  knew  also,  that  the  cultivation 
of  such  fellowship  is  a  scriptural  duty.  To 
provide  opportunity  for  its  culture,  and  to 
prevent  its  neglect  by  his  followers,  he  estab- 
lished this  meeting.  He  did  not  pretend  to 


60  MEANS    OP   GRACE 

claim  divine  authority  for  it;  for,  in  the 
"minutes,"  he  classed  it  with  "prudential" 
and  not  with  "instituted"  means  of  grace. 
But  it  stands  so  intimately  related  to,  and  is 
so  necessary  to  the  proper  growth  of  the 
spiritual  life,  that  regular  attendance  upon  it 
has  always  been  one  of  the  "  regulations " 
which  the  M.  E.  Church  has  required  her 
members  to  observe. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  the  piety  of 
Methodism  owes  much  of  its  characteristic 
fervor  and  animation  to  the  influences  of  its 
class  meetings.  The  peculiar  feature  of 
the  class  is  the  provision  it  makes  for 
the  free  communication  of  religious  expe- 
rience. Its  members,  in  a  spirit  of  frank, 
affectionate  simplicity,  unfold  the  workings 
of  the  divine  life  as  developed  in  their 
several  experiences.  They  are  thus  led  to 
discover  the  identity  of  the  work  wrought 
in  their  hearts  by  the  self  same  Spirit.  If 
one  is  depressed,  tempted,  or  crushed,  he 
learns  that  his  temptations  are  not  peculiar 


PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.  61 

to  himself.  Others  have  felt,  resisted,  con- 
quered them  j  why  may  not  he  ?  If  one  is 
elevated,  he  finds  his  joy  reciprocated ;  while 
his  happy  experience  encourages  his  compan- 
ions to  seek  like  enlargement  of  heart.  If 
one  has  erred,  the  persuasive  sympathy  of  his 
brethren  melts  him  to  penitence ;  their  prayers 
aid  him  to  return  to  the  waiting  Shepherd  of 
his  soul.  Thus,  the  ignorance  of  one  is 
instructed  by  the  knowledge  of  another. 
The  strong  impart  their  vigor  to  the  weak. 
The  unwary  learn  caution  from  the  wisdom 
of  experience.  The  halting  are  rebuked. 
Those  who  run  well  are  confirmed,  and  en- 
couraged to  persevere. 

Besides  the  class  meeting,  Methodism  has 
its  "  Love  Feasts,"  which  are  also  intended 
and  calculated  to  cultivate  spiritual  fellow- 
ship. The  Love  Feast,  though  now  peculiar 
to  Methodism,  is  as  ancient  as  the  Christian 
Church.  "  It  is  certain,"  says  COLEMAN,  in 
his  Ancient  Christianity,  "  that  the  feast  of 
charity  was  celebrated  in  the  earliest  period 


62  MEANS   OP   GRACE 

of  the  Christian  Church.  See  Acts,  2  :  46." 
It  was  celebrated  at  first  in  connection  with 
the  Lord's  supper,  and  consisted  of  a  social 
meal,  accompanied  with  religious  exercises 
and  expressions  of  brotherly  affection.  As  the 
primitive  church  lost  its  purity,  the  love  feast 
lost  its  original  significancy ;  abuses  became 
associated  with  it,  and  it  'Was  finally  abolished 
by  the  Council  of  Laodicea  in  the  middle  of 
the  fourth  century.  Mr.  Wesley,  in  imitation 
of  the  Moravians,  adopted  it  with  its  present 
simple  form,  and  strictly  religious  character, 
for  the  spiritual  benefit  of  his  societies.  It 
remains,  a  cherished  and  delightful  institu- 
tion of  Methodism,  and  is  eminently  fitted  to 
promote  Christian  fellowship. 

Thus,  you  see  some  of  the  spiritual  advan- 
tages of  Methodism.  It  cherishes  with  direct 
and  habitual  effort,  the  great  elements  of  the 
Christian  life ;  its  doctrines  are  preeminently 
suited  to  feed  the  flame  of  that  life ;  its  pe- 
culiar institutions  have  the  same  tendency ;  it 
provides,  as  no  other  church  does,  for  the 


PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.  63 

cultivation  of  Christian  fellowship.  In  one 
word,  the  whole  system  is  organized  for  the 
special  purpose  of  developing  deep,  earnest, 
active,  glowing  piety.  It  offers  no  induce- 
ments to  the  spiritual  sluggard,  the  formal- 
ist, the  half-way  Christian.  It  seeks  the 
sincere  lover  of  Christ,  and  offers  itself  to 
him  as  a  helper  to  the  attainment  of  the 
highest  forms  of  the  divine  life.  Are  not 
these  great  advantages  ?  Ought  you  to  sacri- 
fice them  lightly  ?  Are  they  not  just  what 
you  desire  in  your  holiest  moments  ?  Why 
then  do  you  hesitate  ?  Away  with  the  sug- 
gestions of  those  who  seek  to  proselyte  you 
to  other  altars.  Go,  give  yourself  to  your 
true  spiritual  mother,  saying,  in  the  simple 
language  of  the  dutiful  RUTH  :  "  Thy  people 
shall  be  my  people  j  and  thy  God  my  God  1 " 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OBJECTIONS  TO  METHODIST  PECULIARITIES  CONSIDERED. 

one  of  the  European  picture 
galleries,  there  is  a  fine  por- 
trait of  JEAN  PAUL  EICHTEK, 
surrounded  by  floating  clouds, 
which,  when  examined  closely,  re- 
solve themselves  into  beautiful  angel 
faces.  But  so  soft  and  shadowy  are 
those  angelic  images,  that  to  be  discerned 
they  must  be  beheld  from  a  close  stand- 
point, and  studied  with  an  attentive  eye. 

This  picture  embodies  a  truth  in  Metho- 
dism; for  its  peculiarities,  if  viewed  at  a 
distance  and  by  a  prejudiced  mind,  appear 
like  impenetrable  clouds.  Their  beauty  and 
value  are  not  fully  apparent  until  one  draws 
nigh  to  them,  and  examines  them  with  an 
appreciative  mind.  Then  they  disclose  them- 


OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED.  65 

selves.  Then  they  stand  forth  full  of  spirit- 
ual attraction  and  power.  But  inasmuch  as 
many  persons,  who  only  view  them  from  a 
distance  and  with  envious  feelings,  have  set 
themselves  up  as  their  critics  and  judges, 
you  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  nu- 
merous objections  have  been  brought  against 
those  very  peculiarities  which  are  at  once 
the  true  ornaments  of  Methodism  and  the 
chief  sources,  under  God,  of  its  wonderful  use- 
fulness. You  may  meet  with  some  of  these 
self-constituted  critics.  Let  me  guard  you 
against  their  misrepresentations.  I  will  begin 
with  their  objections  to  the  class  meeting. 

One  writer  (Rev.  J.  R.  Graves,  a  Baptist,) 
says  "  the  conscience  is  hardened  by  it."  In 
support  of  this  assertion,  he  argues  that 
"  confession  of  sin  to  God  without  contrition, 
hardens  the  conscience."  He  then  infers 
that  such  confession  to  men  "must  harden 
the  conscience  in  a  greater  degree."  To 
illustrate  his  argument,  this  unscrupulous 
writer  resorts  to  a  sad  slander.  He  says 
5 


66  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

"  that  a  peculiar  insensibility  to  moral  honor 
and  integrity  of  character  "  is  "  characteristic 
of  the  Methodist  common  mass." 

This  argument  reposes  on  a  gross  fallacy. 
It  assumes  that  the  sole  business  of  the 
class  meeting  is  the  confession  of  sin.  This 
is  not  true.  The  class  meeting  is  not  a  con- 
fessional, but  a  place  for  the  communication 
of  religious  experience.  It  is  the  duty  of 
the  class  leader  to  draw  out  such  communi- 
cation by  inquiring  of  his  members  "how 
their  souls  prosper "  —  a  question  which 
covers  the  entire  range  of  religious  expe- 
rience. It  may  lead  to  confession,  or  it  may 
not.  That  depends  very  much  on  the  spirit- 
ual health  of  the  persons  present.  It  gen- 
erally leads  to  acknowledgments  of  the  divine 
goodness,  and  descriptions  of  the  various 
phases  of  the  inner  life  which  have  character- 
ized their  recent  experiences.  Hence,  the 
assumption  that  confession  is  the  sole,  or 
even  the  chief  business  of  the  class  meeting, 
is  false.  And  it  is  especially  false  to  allege, 


PECULIARITIES   CONSIDERED.  6*1 

that  when  there  is  confession,  it  is  unaccom- 
panied by  contrition ;  for  the  class  meeting 
is  the  very  last  place  to  which  an  impenitent 
person  would  be  likely  to  resort.  Thus,  the 
assumptions  of  this  writer,  being  as  false  as 
they  are  uncharitable,  his  argument  is  invalid, 
and  his  objection  falls  to  the  ground.  Hie 
charge  of  moral  insensibility  and  defective 
integrity,  as  characteristic  of  Methodists, 
only  reflects  his  own  character,  and  proves 
him  to  be  of  that  class  of  slanderers  whom 
the  poet  describes  in  the  following  lines : 

"  They  who  stung  were  creeping  things ;  but  what 
Than  serpent's  teeth  inflict  with  deadliest  throes? 
The  lion  may  be  goaded  by  the  gnat  — 
Who  sucks  the  slumberer's  blood  ?    The  eagle  ?  —  No,  the  bat." 

It  has  been  asserted  by  another  writer, 
(Rev.  Parsons  Cooke,  a  Congregationalist,) 
that  the  class  meeting  is  a  "  mitigated  form 
of  the  Romish  confessional."  Your  own  in- 
telligence will  teach  you  that  this  is  a  lame 
and  vulgar  appeal  to  prejudice,  because  there 
is  not  the  least  analogy  between  the  clam 


68  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

meeting  and  the  confessional.  You  know 
that  the  Romish  confessional  is  a  private 
box,  where  the  worshipper  makes  secret  con- 
fession of  all  his  sins  to  a  priest,  with  a  view 
to  his  absolution.  It  is  a  means  by  which 
the  Romanist  penitent  performs  the  sacra- 
ment of  penance.  But  a  class  meeting  is  a 
meeting  of  Christian  people  who  openly 
converse  with  one  of  their  number  on  the 
subject  of  religious  experience,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  assisted  to  "work  out  their 
own  salvation."  It  needs  no  priest  to  carry 
it  on.  Its  leader  is  a  layman.  It  pretends 
to  nothing  sacramental  in  its  character.  It 
exacts  no  confessions  of  sin.  It  knows 
nothing  of  priestly  absolution.  Its  type  is 
not  the  Romish  confessional,  for  it  has  no 
one  feature  which  bears  the  smallest  resem- 
blance to  that  unscriptural  institution.  It  is 
simply  a  meeting  for  the  enjoyment  and  pro- 
motion of  Christian  fellowship,  such  as  God's 
ancient  people  cherished,  when,  according  to 
Malachi,  "  They  that  feared  the  Lord,  spake 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  69 

often  one  to  another ;  and  the  Lord  heark- 
ened, and  heard  it,  and  a  book  of  remem- 
brance was  written  before  him  for  them  that 
fear  the  Lord,  and  that  thought  upon  his 
name : "  and  such  as  is  required  by  the 
apostle  James,  where  he  says,  "  Confess  your 
faults  one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for 
another,  that  ye  may  be  healed." 

Again,  the  same  inconsiderate  author 
affirms  that  the  class  meeting  tends  to 
"  promote  insincerity  and  a  habit  of  hollow 
pretences,"  because  the  weekly  relation  of 
experience  it  requires  is  "a  temptation  to 
tread  a  beaten  track  of  recital,  in  which 
actual  experience  does  not  run ;  or  to  rely 
somewhat  upon  invention  for  the  materials 
of  a  story  that  will  make  a  good  appear- 
ance before  the  class." 

This  argument  is  both  uncharitable  and 
fallacious.  Uncharitable,  because  it  brings  a 
charge  of  hypocrisy  and  falsehood  against 
Methodists  generally :  fallacious,  because  it 
proceeds  on  the  supposition  that  a  sound 


70  OBJECTIONS   TO    METHODIST 

religious  experience  cannot  furnish  material 
for  such  weekly  inquiries  and  relations  as  a 
class  meeting  implies,  and  therefore  it  must 
lead  to  false  pretensions.  But  suppose  the 
spiritual  life  is  so  active,  so  varied  in  its 
development,  so  surrounded  by  hindrances, 
and  so  subject  to  conflicts  as  to  present  innu- 
merable phases  and  shades  of  experience, 
it  must  then  be  conceded  that  the  class 
meeting  is  precisely  fitted  to  meet  its  wants, 
because  it  furnishes  stated  opportunities  to 
express  its  joys  and  griefs,  and  to  obtain 
encouragement,  instruction,  and  stimulus. 
Now  this  is  the  Methodistic  view  of  the  Chris- 
tian life.  And  on  this  view,  which  I  believe 
is  the  true  one,  class  meetings  stand  firmly 
and  securely  built.  Those  who  think  the 
Christian  life  is  dull  and  stagnant — a  still 
half-putrid  pool  of  subsided  feeling  —  will 
readily  believe  that  a  Christian  cannot  have 
enough  of  "  internal  history  "  to  furnish  mate- 
rial for  weekly  communion,  and  that  the  class 
meeting  cannot  be  sustained  except  by 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  71 

falsehood  and  hypocrisy.  But  you,  beloved 
reader,  do  not  hold  such  low  views  of  the 
Christian  life.  You  know,  too,  that  the  class 
meeting  has  stood  the  test  of  more  than  a 
century,  and  that  millions  of  pious  souls  have 
been  wonderfully  blessed  by  it.  You  will  not 
therefore,  be  likely  to  be  drawn  away  from 
Methodism  by  such  objections. 

You  will  also  be  likely  to  hear  similar 
statements  respecting  band  meetings.  Mr. 
Graves  has  said  of  it  "  that  the  vilest  ques- 
tions to  be  found  in  Denn's  Theology  may  be 
put  to  every  member  of  a  band  meeting." 
To  this  a  very  short  and  sufficient  answer  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  band  meeting  is 
almost  obsolete  in  American  Methodism,  and 
that  the  first  instance  of  an  improper  ques- 
tion having  been  put  by  a  band  leader  has 
yet  to  be  adduced.  In  fact,  the  band  meeting 
is  designed  only  for  persons  who,  having 
attained  a  high  degree  of  spirituality,  desire 
a  closer  spiritual  fellowship  than  is  provided 
for  in  the  class  meeting.  But  it  was  never 


72  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

general  or  obligatory  in  Methodism ;  and,  in 
all  probability,  never  will  be.  It  presupposes 
sucli  a  degree  of  sincerity,  simplicity,  integ- 
rity, and  spirituality  as,  I  fear,  will  never  be 
universal  in  any  sect,  while  poor  human 
nature  dwells  in  earthly  tabernacles.  Hence, 
they  who  seek  to  prejudice  you  against  Meth- 
odism because  of  what  they  pretend  to  find 
objectionable  in  band  meetings,  only  beat  the 
air.  They  assail  an  institution  which  can 
hardly  be  said  to  exist,  save  in  the  letter  of 
the  discipline. 

It  may  interest  you  to  know  that  while 
some  sectarian  writers  are  assailing  the  class 
meeting,  others,  of  more  intelligence,  candor, 
and  piety,  are  recommending  its  introduction 
into  their  own  ecclesiastical  organisms.  A 
recent  article  in  the  Episcopal  Recorder 
recommends  the  institution  of  class  or  band 
meetings  by  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 
It  says  that  from  the  "class  meetings  the 
great  Methodist  revival  drew  its  strength, 
and  had  they  been  legitimated  in  the 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  73 

Church  of  England,  she  would  have  remained 
in  fact,  as  well  as  in  name,  NATIONAL."  It 
mentions  two  or  three  instances  in  which 
meetings  conducted  like  our  class  meetings 
were  signally  blessed  —  and  concludes  with 
the  remark: — "And  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say,  that  by  the  adoption  of  such  meetings  in 
future,  the  church  [Protestant  Episcopal] 
would  be  taking  the  means,  of  all  others  the 
most  efficient,  for  throwing  off  the  spiritual 
sluggishness  with  which  she  is  now  op- 
pressed." 

Not  long  since,  the  pastor  of  a  Congrega- 
tionalist  church  in  Massachusetts,  in  conver- 
sation with  a  Methodist  preacher  stationed 
in  the  same  town,  lamented  that  the  converts 
of  a  recent  revival  in  his  church,  did  not 
manifest  that  vigor  in  their  spiritual  life 
which  was  desirable.  He  complained  par- 
ticularly of  their  backwardness  in  religious 
meetings.  He  then  asked  his  Methodist 
brother ;  "  How  do  you  manage  to  secure  so 
much  activity  as  is  manifest  in  your  con- 
verts ?  " 


74  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

"  Sir,"  replied  the  Methodist  preacher, 
"  that  results  not  so  much  from  what  I  do,  aa 
from  the  influences  of  our  system,  especially 
of  our  class  meeting." 

"  What  is  the  nature  of  your  class  meet- 
ing ?  "  inquired  the  other. 

The  preacher  explained  the  manner  and 
design  of  that  meeting  to  him.  After  hearing 
his  statement,  the  Congregationalist  pastor 
looked  up  very  earnestly,  and  with  great 
emphasis  remarked : 

"  Such  a  meeting  must  have  a  most  benefi- 
cial influence  both  on  old  Christians  and 
young  converts.  It  is  just  what  WE  need ! " 

That  pastor  spoke  honestly.  He  would 
doubtless  have  been  glad,  if  the  order  and 
public  sentiment  of  his  denomination  had 
permitted,  to  establish  class  meetings  in  his 
own  church. 

A  kindred  conviction  of  the  value  of  this 
means  of  grace  is  also  working  its  way  into 
the  minds  of  candid  observers  in  England,  as 
will  appear  by  the  following  facts. 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  75 

A  committee  of  the  English  Convocation 
having  recommended  to  the  Episcopal  Church 
the  formation  of  religious  fraternities  within 
its  bosom,  for  the  benefit  of  converts,  and  a 
High  Church  writer,  in  advocating  the 
measure,  having  ignored  the  existence  of  the 
Wesleyan  class  meeting,  a  scholarly  critic  in 
the  North  British  Review  calls  attention  to 
this  feature  of  Wesleyanism.  After  quoting 
the  disciplinary  description  of  class  and 
band  meetings,  this  critic  says :  "  Now  we 
think  that  there  are  great  doubts  whether 
the  effect  upon  the  mind  of  this  practice  of 
confession,  which  prevails  in  this  closest  asso- 
ciation, (the  band)  would,  in  most  cases,  be 
salutary  or  no ;  but  it  seems  evident  that  it 
is  the  sort  of  confession  recommended  in  St 
James's  Epistle,  being,  like  it,  mutual  — 
directed,  not  to  a  priest,  but  to  a  righteous 
man,  real  or  supposed  —  and  with  a  view  to 
obtaining  the  benefit  of  his  prayers ;  and  it 
supplies  a  want  of  the  soul,  which,  although 
perhaps  morbid,  is  a  real  and  frequent  one." 


76  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

This  writer  then  goes  on  to  state  what  he 
"regards  as  the  fault  of  the  Wesleyan  sys- 
tem," namely,  "  that  the  connection  with  a 
class  is  made  an  indispensable  term  of  com- 
munion." "  The  whole  thing,"  he  adds, "  should 
be  optional ;  and  then  the  system  would  be 
free  from  all  objections,  and  might  continue, 
as  it  is  at  present,  a  great  means  of  strength- 
ening and  holding  the  convert,  and  a  great 
support  and  comfort  to  a  large  class  of 
minds" 

You  will  observe  that  the  approval  here 
given  to  class  meetings  is  reluctant  and 
qualified.  The  writer  evidently  shares  in 
those  prejudices  which  even  candid  and  noble 
minds  may  innocently  possess,  against  institu- 
tions with  which,  from  the  nature  of  the  case, 
they  cannot  be  practically  acquainted.  But 
this  only  renders  the  measure  of  approval 
which  is  given  more  valuable,  for  it  shows 
that  the  writer  applauds  no  more  than  his 
gravest  and  most  mature  judgment  compels 
him  to  do.  His  praise  is  a  concession  made 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  77 

to  his  prejudices,  in  obedience  to  the  demands 
of  his  reason. 

In  the  above  quotations  you  will  observe 
that  this  writer  admits :  1.  The  scriptural 
character  of  the  class  meeting.  2.  Its  adap- 
tation to  supply  a  "  real  want "  of  the  soul. 
3.  That  it  is  a  "great  means  of  strength- 
ening and  holding  the  convert,"  a  "  great  sup- 
port and  comfort  to  a  large  class  of  minds." 

These  admissions  are  important,  coming  as 
they  do  from  a  highly  educated  Presbyterian, 
through  the  columns  of  a  British  Review. 
They  show  that  the  best  mind  in  the  Chris- 
tian church  is  beginning  to  recognize  a  fitness 
and  an  effectiveness  in  the  ecclesiastical  organ- 
ism established  by  Mr.  Wesley,  which  more 
shallow  and  bigoted  minds  have  hitherto 
refused  to  see.  They  also  indicate  a  ten- 
dency in  other  Christian  bodies  towards 
Methodist  usages.  They  point  to  a  period 
in  which  tardy  justice  will  be  done  to  Mr. 
Wesley's  sagacity  by  the  general  adoption, 
with  various  modifications,  of  the  leading 


78  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

features  of  his  system,  by  the  evangelical 
churches  of  Christendom. 

Such  testimonies  as  these  confirm  what  I 
have  said  in  illustration  of  the  value  of  the 
class  meeting.  They  also  show  you  that 
others,  besides  Methodists,  concede  its 
scriptural  character,  its  necessity,  and  its  fit- 
ness to  supply  a  positive  demand  of  the 
spiritual  life.  Be  assured,  then,  that  in 
entering  the  pale  of  Methodism,  you  will  find 
in  this  institution  such  a  help  to  the  "  com- 
munion of  saints,"  and  to  growth  in  grace,  as 
you  can  find  in  no  other  branch  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  No  other  church  provides  in  its 
organism  for  the  culture  of  Christian  fellow- 
ship. 

It  is  related  of  a  certain  Spaniard  that  he 
was  accustomed  to  put  on  spectacles  when 
he  ate  cherries,  that"  they  might  appear  large 
and  tempting  to  his  eye.  I  have  no  doubt 
you  will  find  persons  among  those  seeking 
to  proselyte  you,  who  are  wont  to  put  on 
spectacles  when  they  examine  the  peculiar!- 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  79 

ties  of  our  church.  Such  spectacled  critics 
will  point  you  to  numerous  imaginary  evils. 
Perhaps  they  will  try  to  convince  you  that 
Methodist  prayer  meetings  are  marked  by 
practices  which  are  contrary  to  the  true 
order  of  the  church  of  God.  They  may  tell 
you,  for  instance,  as  the  Rev.  Parsons  Cooke 
has  done,  that  our  practice  of  relating  expe- 
riences tends  "  to  promote  insincerity  and  a 
habit  of  hollow  pretences."  In  support  of 
this  charge  they  may  refer  to  this  redoubtable 
gentleman,  who  gravely  relates  that  he  once 
heard  "  fifteen  professed  converts  giving  their 
experience,"  who  "  repeated  always  the  ideas 
and  most  often  the  words  of  the  first."  This 
convinced  the  Reverend  critic,  that  their 
"  experience  was  nothing  more  than  the  reci- 
tal of  a  lesson  from  memory."  Your  specta- 
cled informants  may  then  add,  that  these 
converts  were  schooled  into  this  hypocrisy 
by  our  system,  and  that  consequently  yon 
had  better  forsake  it  as  quickly  as  possible. 
But  you  already  know  enough  of  Methodism 


80  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

to  perceive  the  utter  falsity  of  this  charge, 
which,  by  the  way,  carries  its  own  refutation 
on  its  face.  Just  look  at  it. 

1.  It  is  not  customary  in  public  Methodist 
prayer  meetings  for  converts  to  relate  their 
experience  at  length.  They  merely  make  a 
general  confession  of  their  newly  found  faith 
in  Christ.  2.  The  fifteen  converts  evidently 
did  not  do  it,  for  the  time  usually  occupied 
in  a  public  meeting,  would  be  insufficient  for 
fifteen  persons  to  give  their  experience,  "  in 
all  its  forms  and  minuteness." 

Now,  if  they  were  not  relating  the  details 
of  their  experience,  but  only  making  a 
general  confession  of  their  faith,  what  be- 
comes of  this  argument  ?  It  surely  will  not 
be  affirmed  to  be  a  thing  "  incredible,"  that 
fifteen  persons  should  have  had  a  genuine 
religious  experience  so  substantially  identical 
as  to  find  true  expression  in  ideas  and  ver- 
biage very  nearly  similar  ?  Is  not  the  expe- 
rience of  every  Christian  in  substance  the 
same  ?  Does  not  the  difference  in  Christian 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  81 

experience,  lie  chiefly  in  mode,  circumstance, 
and  detail,  rather  than  in  substance  ?  If  not, 
why  do  the  writings  of  David  and  Paul  fur- 
nish the  best  possible  language  by  which  to 
express  the  experience  of  modern  believers  ? 
Why  then  is  the  sameness  of  verbiage  and 
ideas  employed  by  fifteen  converts  to  express 
a  general  confession  of  an  experience  which, 
in  order  to  be  genuine,  must  be  substantially 
identical,  tortured  into  an  argument  against 
their  sincerity  ?  Is  there  not  a  corresponding 
sameness  in  the  general  profession,  which 
Calvinistic  converts  make  in  their  inquiry 
and  conference  meetings  ?  Do  they  not  all 
speak  of  "  indulging  a  hope,"  of  trusting  in 
"  God's  covenanted  mercies,"  and  of  hoping 
in  the  "  sovereign  grace  of  God,"  and  kindred 
"  stereotyped  "  phrases  ?  What  then  be- 
comes of  this  argument?  It  falls  to  the 
ground,  a  glaring  sophism,  which  you  will 
shake  off  as  easily  as  Paul  shook  the  viper 
from  his  hand  on  the  island  of  Melita. 
The  Methodist  prayer  meeting  is  objected 
6 


82  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

to  by  some,  because  of  its  "  noise,"  its  altar 
for  penitents,  its  seeming  confusion,  and,  in 
seasons  of  revival,  and  at  camp  meetings,  its 
scenes  of  earnest  excitement.  These  things 
have  been  wickedly  ridiculed  by  Mr.  Cooke, 
who,  in  the  true  spirit  of  infidelity,  calls  them 
a  "religious  comedy,"  "comic  operations," 
Ac.,  which  are  encouraged  by  our  ministry,  he 
says,  not  because  of  their  intrinsic  rightful- 
ness,  but  because  they  "promote  Metho- 
dism." 

I  very  much  mistake  the  temper  of  your 
piety,  dear  convert,  if  this  objection  has  the 
weight  of  a  feather  in  your  estimation.  You 
are  an  earnest  Christian.  You  believe  in 
an  earnest  Christianity.  You  could  not 
endure  to  see  men  laboring  to  save  immortal 
souls  from  unending  death,  with  the  cool 
gravity  of  a  Turk  sipping  coffee.  You  be- 
lieve that  coldness  and  formality  are  never 
more  out  of  place  than  at  a  prayer  meeting. 
You  will,  therefore,  treat  this  objection  with 
the  contempt  it  justly  merits.  Provided  the 


PECULIARITIES   CONSIDERED.  83 

earnestness  of  Methodism  does  not  degene- 
rate into  extravagance  and  fanaticism,  it  will 
be  to  you  its  highest  commendation,  that  at 
its  altars  the  penitent  is  not  forbidden  to 
exhibit  the  intense  emotions  of  his  awakened 
soul;  no,  not  if  they  lead  him  to  come 
"  trembling,"  and  "  falling  down,"  like  the 
Philippian  jailor,  and  crying,  "  Sirs,  what 
must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  Nor,  will  you  be 
kept  from  Methodism  because  its  ministers 
and  members  are  quick  to  sympathize  with 
such  intensity  of  feeling,  ready  to  pour  out 
their  souls  in  strong  desire  for  seekers,  and 
to  lift  up  their  voices  in  fervent  praise  when 
God  pronounces  them  forgiven. 

Now  what  is  there  beyond  this  in  the 
usual  manifestations  of  Methodist  prayer 
meetings  ?  Occasionally,  and  in  some  places, 
it  is  true,  the  tides  of  feeling  may  overflow 
the  banks  of  rigid  propriety.  But  are  such 
exceptional  breaches  of  the  ordinary  propri- 
eties of  life  so  unbecoming  as  to  merit  the 
title  of  "  comic  operations  ?  "  I  have  read 


84  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

that  a  Czar  of  Russia  once  saw  a  peasant 
struggling  for  life  in  the  waters  of  a  river. 
The  sight  appealed  to  his  humanity.  The 
Czar  was  forgotten  in  the  man.  He 
tore  off  his  coat,  leaped  into  the  river, 
brought  the  half  dead  peasant  to  the  shore, 
and  stood  dripping  and  disordered  among  his 
astonished  attendants.  Doubtless  his  aspect 
was  very  "  comic,"  very  unsatisfactory  in  the 
eyes  of  brainless  etiquette.  But -who  with  a 
man's  heart  in  his  bosom,  could  ridicule 
him  ?  So  too,  there  may  be  in  a  Methodist 
prayer  meeting,  such  struggling  for  the  "  life  " 
of  sinking  souls  as  gives  rise  to  "  strong  cries 
and  tears,"  to  demonstrations  which  are  un- 
courtly,  and  contrary  to  the  laws  of  a  finical 
etiquette ;  but  who  with  the  soul  of  a  Chris- 
tian, can  find  it  in  his  heart  to  ridicule  such 
things  ?  I  would  not,  to  be  sure,  encourage 
them.  They  are  not  sought  for  or  cherished 
in  the  Methodist  church,  generally.  But  I 
cannot  understand  how  any  man,  whose  heart 
has  learned  to  agonize  for  the  "birth  of 


PECULIARITIES   CONSIDERED.  85 

souls,"  can  mock  at  them  when  they  do  occur. 
I  shrink  from  such  a  man,  as  I  would  from  a 
French  dancing  master,  who  should  stand 
beside  the  stake  of  a  dying  martyr  and  criti- 
cise him  because  his  postures  were  not 
altogether  secundum  artem.  I  have  little 
doubt  that,  if  such  as  he  had  witnessed  the 
excitement  which  followed  the  discourse 
of  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  they  would 
have  pronounced  it  a  "religious  comedy." 
But  I  need  not  dwell  on  this  point.  You, 
beloved  reader,  are  too  earnest  a  Christian 
to  be  moved  from  Methodism  by  assaults 
upon  its  activity,  intensity,  and  ardent  sym- 
pathy for  human  salvation. 

Another  usage  of  Methodism,  which  is  often 
bitterly  assailed  by  its  enemies,  is  the  Chris- 
tian liberty  it  allows  to  women.  Believing, 
with  an  apostle,  that  in  "  Christ  Jesus " 
there  is  neither  "  male  nor  female,"  it  does 
not  reduce  woman  to  a  cypher,  or  restrict  her 
power  to  do  good,  by  depriving  her  of  the 
privilege  of  offering  prayer,  or  of  declaring 


86  OBJECTIONS   TO  METHODIST 

the  goodness  of  God  to  her  soul,  in  class  and 
prayer  meetings.  Woman's  equality  in  the 
rights,  privileges,  and  blessings  of  the  gos- 
pel is  practically  declared  in  Methodism,  by 
her  admission  to  these  privileges.  If  the 
reader  is  a  woman,  this  fact  must  commend 
Methodism  to  her  esteem.  She  may  not  wish 
to  use  these  opportunities  herself,  for  she 
may  possess  so  sensitive  a  nature  as  to 
shrink  from  public  observation.  Still,  she 
can  but  feel  the  honor  done  to  her  sex  by  a 
usage  which  so  distinctly  recognizes  its 
equality.  She  can  but  acknowledge  that 
Methodism  has  an  especial  claim  on  woman's 
gratitude  for  this  most  excellent  custom. 

But  is  this  usage  scriptural?  Many  Cal- 
vinists  affirm  that  it  is  not.  They  heap  un- 
stinted censures  on  the  Methodist  church  for 
allowing  it ;  claiming  that  it  is  forbidden  by 
the  apostle,  in  these  words :  "  Let  your 
women  keep  silence  in  the  churches ;  for  it 
is  not  permitted  unto  them  to  speak."  1 
Cor.  14  :  34. 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  87 

If  this  were  the  only  text  in  which  women's 
privileges  were  referred  to  by  the  apostle,  it 
might  settle  the  question.  But  fortunately 
the  mind  of  the  Spirit  is  elsewhere  expressed, 
and  that  too,  in  favor  of  the  usage  of  Metho- 
dism, and  the  dignity  of  women.  In  1  Cor. 
11:5,  the  apostle  recognizes  the  right  of 
women  to  speak  and  pray  in  the  church,  by 
prescribing  the  manner  in  which  those  duties 
are  to  be  performed.  "Every  woman  that 
prayeth  or  prophesieth  with  her  head  un- 
covered, dishonoreth  her  head."  Again,  in 
verse  13 ;  "  Is  it  comely  that  a  woman-  pray 
unto  God  with  her  head  uncovered  ?  "  That 
you  may  see  the  force  of  these  texts,  I  will 
quote  Dr.  Adam  Clarke's  comment  upon 
verse  5th. 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  meaning  of  praying 
and  prophesying  in  respect  to  the  man,  they 
have  precisely  the  same  meaning  in  respect 
to  the  woman.  So  that  some  women,  at 
least,  as  well  as  some  men,  might  speak  to 
others  to  edification  and  exhortation,  and 


88  OBJECTIONS    TO    METHODIST 

comfort.  And  this  kind  of  prophesying  or 
teaching,  was  predicted  by  Joel,  2:28,  and 
referred  to  by  Peter,  Acts  2:  17.  And  had 
there  not  been  such  gifts  bestowed  on  women, 
the  prophecy  could  not  have  had  its  fulfil- 
ment. The  only  difference  marked  by  the 
apostle  was,  the  man  had  his  head  uncovered, 
because  he  was  the  representative  of  Christ, 
the  woman  had  hers  covered,  because  she 
was  placed,  by  the  order  of  God,  in  a  state 
of  subjection  to  the  man;  and  because  it 
was  a  custom,  both  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  and  among  the  Jews  an  express 
law,  that  no  woman  should  be  seen  abroad 
without  a  veil." 

This  interpretation  accords  with  the  prac- 
tice of  the  primitive  church,  as  shown  in 
various  portions  of  the  New  Testament. 
Did  not  a  woman  make  the  first  proclama- 
tion of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  to  the 
apostolic  college?  Did  not  PEISCILLA  in- 
struct APOLLOS  in  the  meaning  of  the  Scrip- 
tures? Did  not  Paul  greet  her  as  his 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  89 

"  helper  in  Christ  Jesus  ? "  Did  he  not 
"  thank  her "  for  her  services,  and  declare 
that  "all  the  churches  of  the  Gentiles 
thanked"  her  also?  (See  Romans  16:4). 
Did  he  not  also  send  salutations  to  TRY- 
PHENA,  TRYPHOSA,  and  the  "beloved  PERSIS?" 
Of  the  first  two  ladies  he  says,  they  "  labor 
in  the  Lord : "  of  Persis,  that  she  "  labored 
much  in  the  Lord."  What  this  labor  was,  I 
will  permit  Dr.  Clarke  to  state.  In  his  note 
on  Romans  16  : 12,  he  says  of  Tryphena  and 
Tryphosa: — 

"  Two  holy  women,  who,  it  seems,  were 
assistants  to  the  apostle  in  his  work;  prob- 
ably by  exhorting,  visiting  the  sick,  <fec. 
Persis  was  another  woman,  who,  it  seems, 
excelled  the  preceding;  for,  of  her  it  is  said, 
she  labored  much  in  the  Lord.  We  learn 
from  this,  that  Christian  women,  as  well  as 
men,  labored  in  the  ministry  of  the  word. 
In  those  times  of  simplicity,  all  persons, 
whether  men  or  women,  who  had  received 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  believed  it  to  be 


90  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

their  duty  to  propagate  it  to  the  uttermost 
of  their  power.  Many  have  spent  much  use- 
less labor  in  endeavoring  to  prove  that  these 
women  did  not  preach.  That  there  were 
some  prophetesses,  as  well  as  prophets  in  the 
Christian  church,  we  learn;  and  that  a 
woman  might  pray  or  prophecy,  provided 
she  had  her  head  covered  we  know ;  and  that 
whoever  prophesied  spoke  unto  others  to 
edification,  exhortation,  and  comfort,  St.  Paul 
declares,  I  Cor.  14 :  3.  And  that  no  preacher 
can  do  more,  every  person  must  acknowl- 
edge ;  because  to  edify,  exhort,  and  comfort, 
are  the  prime  ends  of  the  gospel  ministry. 
If  women  thus  prophesied,  then  women 
preached.  There  is,  however,  much  more 
than  this  implied  in  the  Christian  ministry, 
of  which  men  only,  and  men  called  of  God, 
are  capable." 

But  how  can  these  facts  and  interpretations 
be  harmonized  with  the  command  to  "  keep  si- 
lence," quoted  above  ?  There  is  but  one  way 
to  do  this.  The  prohibition  must  be  under- 


PECULIARITIES    CONSIDERED.  91 

stood  to  apply  to  speaking  under  particular 
circumstances,  not  to  speaking  and  praying 
in  general.  This  is  Dr.  Clarke's  view.  He 
says  of  the  words  "  Let  your  women  keep 
silence  in  the  churches : "  *  *  *  "  It  is  evi- 
dent from  the  context,  that  the  apostle  refers 
here  to  asking  questions,  and  what  we  call 
dictating  in  the  assemblies.  It  was  permit- 
ted to  any  man  to  ask  questions,  to  object,  to 
altercate,  attempt  to  refute,  &c.,  in  the  syna- 
gogue ;  but  this  liberty  was  not  allowed  to 
any  woman.  St.  Paul  confirms  this,  in  refer- 
ence also  to  the  Christian  church.  He  or- 
ders them  to  keep  silence,  and  if  they  wish 
to  learn  any  thing,  let  them  inquire  of  their 
husbands  at  home,  because  it  was  perfectly 
indecorous  for  women  to  be  contending  with 
men  in  public  assemblies  on  points  of  doc- 
trine, cases  of  conscience,  <fec.  But  this,  by 
no  means,  intimated  that  when  a  woman  re- 
ceived any  particular  influence  from  God,  to 
enable  her  to  teach,  that  she  was  not  to  obey 
that  influence ;  on  the  contrary,  she  was  to 


92  OBJECTIONS   TO   METHODIST 

obey  it,  and  the  apostle  lays  down  directions 
in  chap.  11,  for  regulating  her  personal  ap- 
pearance when  thus  employed,"  &c. 

Accept  this  explanation  and  all  is  clear. 
There  is  then  no  contradiction  between  the 
precepts  themselves,  nor  between  the  pre- 
cepts and  the  practice  of  the  apostle.  Deny 
it,  and  the  precepts  oppose  each  other :  the 
apostle  is  guilty  of  the  inconsistency  of 
tolerating  and  praising  a  practice  in  one 
place,  which  he  condemns  in  another.  I 
know  you  will  not  accept  this  latter  conclu- 
sion. You  have  then  but  one  alternative. 
You  must  believe  that  the  Methodist  usage 
of  permitting  women  to  speak  and  pray  is 
sanctioned  by  the  practice  of  the  Apostolic 
church,  and  by  the  word  of  God. 

Such  are  the  chief  objections  urged  against 
our  leading  peculiarities.  You  see  how 
readily  they  dissolve  when  touched  by  the 
Ithuriel  spear  of  examination.  It  is  so 
with  all  the  objections  which  are  coined  so 
plentifully  in  the  mint  of  our  enemies.  The 


PECULIARITIES   CONSIDERED.  93 

fact  is,  they  do  not  understand  Methodism, 
and  you  have  but  to  compare  their  assertions 
with  the  real  facts,  to  see  them  melt  into 
air. 

A  laughable  instance  of  this  ignorance, 
even  in  regard  to  the  historical  facts  of  the 
church,  occurs  in  the  writings  of  Mr.  Cooke. 
Speaking  of  JESSE  LEE,  he  says :  "  there  is 
a  tradition  that  when  he  came  to  Lynn  on  a 
visit,  many  years  after  his  mission  here,  and 
saw  the  present  meeting  house  of  the  first 
Methodist  Church,  with  its  steeple  and  bell, 
and  all  the  common  conveniences  of  meeting 
houses,  he  was  indignant  at  the  mark  of  de- 
generacy in  his  church,  and  even  refused  to 
preach  in  the  new  house." 

Had  the  writer  of  this  scrap  of  petty 
gossip  turned  to  Jesse  Lee's  life,  he  would 
have  learned  that  the  good  man  never  saw 
the  present  meeting  house  of  the  first  Metho- 
dist Church  in  Lynn.  His  last  visit  to 
that  town  was  made  in  1808 — Jive  years  be- 
fore the  said  house  was  dedicated  ! 


94  OBJECTIONS   CONSIDERED. 

How  competent  to  judge  correctly  of 
Methodism  such  critics  are,  you  can  readily 
determine.  If  you  will  bring  all  the  state- 
ments you  hear  against  it,  by  those  who  seek 
to  proselyte  you  from  its  communion,  to  the 
test  of  facts,  you  will  see  them  vanish  like 
this  tradition.  "Bring  Methodism  to  the 
light,  and  it  will  shine  brighter  and  brighter. 
And  this  is  the  secret  cause  of  the  hostility 
which  frowns  upon  it  from  so  many  quarters. 
It  contains  so  much  that  is  good,  so  many 
elements  of  real  power,  that  the  breasts  of 
strong  sectarians  are  filled  with  envy.  For 
this  cause,  could  its  enemies  triumph,  it 
might  be  said  of  it,  as  was  once  said  of  a 
shining  man : 

"  Was  he  not  rich  in  independent  worth? 
And  great  in  native  goodness  ?  that  undid  him ! 
There,  there  he  fell !    If  he  had  been  less  great, 
He  had  been  safe." 


CHAPTER  V. 

DOCTRINES    PECULIAR   TO    METHODISM. 

[PINION"  is  mistress  of  the 
world,"  says  the  Italian  prov- 
erb. And  is  it  not  so  ?  Is 
there  not  a  close  relationship 
between  the  actions  and  opinions 
of  men  ?  Does  not  doctrine  mould 
character  and  give  color  to  action? 
Find  a  nation  with  a  false  theology,  and  do 
you  not  also  find  it  corrupt  in  affection  and 
wicked  in  practice  ?  Did  not  the  cruel,  un- 
chaste, bloodthirsty  deities  of  Greece  and 
Rome  beget  cruelty,  lust,  and  strife  in  their 
worshippers  ?  Has  any  race  of  men  ever 
attained  to  rectitude  of  character  through 
faith  in  debasing  falsehoods  ?  Has  any  sect 
ever  attained  to  a  Christian  standard  of 
experience  and  morals  while  denying  truths 
fundamental  to  Christianity  ?  Never !  How, 


96       DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM. 

then,  can  you  reasonably  hope  to  grow  up 
to  the  maturity  of  a  sound  and  healthy 
Christian  character  without  attaining  correct 
views  of  the  doctrines  of  Holy  Writ  ?  You 
cannot.  The  thistle  will  not  bring  forth 
figs.  Beauty  will  not  spring  from  deformity. 
Neither  will  error  produce  heavenly  affec- 
tions, nor  unscriptural  doctrines  eliminate  a 
holy  life. 

If,  therefore,  beloved  convert,  you  would 
attain  to  a  comfortable  experience,  a  right 
state  of  heart,  and  a  pure  life,  you  must 
cherish  sound  doctrines  —  you  must  study 
to  conform  your  creed  to  the  teachings  of  the 
divine  word.  You  must  place  yourself  in 
communion  with  that  church  whose  pulpit 
enounces  the  purest  forms  of  truth,  whose 
creed  is  nearest  to  the  Bible. 

If  you  are  guided  by  these  principles,  I 
think  you  will  not  hesitate  to  enter  the  pale 
of  Methodism;  for  in  its  creed  you  will 
find  doctrines  which  commend  themselves  to 
your  enlightened  reason,  which  harmonize 


DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.       97 

with  the  word  of  God,  and  which  are  emi- 
nently adapted  to  support  and  develop  a 
vigorous  religious  experience. 

I  cannot  in  this  little  volume  enter  into  a 
thorough  exposition  and  defence  of  the  doc- 
trines of  Methodism.  All  I  can  do,  is  to 
throw  out  such  hints  and  suggestions  as  may 
strengthen  your  confidence  in  those  doctrines 
which  I  presume  you  to  have  already  em- 
braced ;  and  to  fortify  your  mind  against 
such  objections  as  your  proselyting  friends 
may  whisper  in  your  ears. 

I  wish  you  to  note  first,  that  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  Methodism  are  in  strict 
harmony  with  the  faith  of  the  evangelical 
church  of  all  ages  and  in  all  countries. 
Methodists  hold,  in  common  with  Calvinists, 
the  doctrines  of  human  depravity,  the  deity 
of  Christ,  the  atonement,  justification  by 
faith  only,  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  future  punishment  of  unbelievers,  the 
inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and  their  suffi- 
ciency for  salvation.  Hence,  you  perceive, 
7 


98      DOCTRINES    PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM. 

that  the  evangelical  character  of  Methodism 
cannot  be  truthfully  denied,  because  it  teaches 
those  great  cardinal  truths  which  have  ever 
distinguished  evangelical  from  non-evangelical 
bodies. 

The  leading  doctrines  maintained  by  the 
Methodists  you  will  find  stated,  in  general 
terms,  in  the  twenty-five  articles  of  religion 
contained  in  the  "  Discipline."  These  arti- 
cles, with  the  exception  of  the  twenty-third, 
were  abridged  from  the  "  Thirty -nine  Arti- 
cles "  of  the  Church  of  England,  *  by  MR. 
WESLEY.  They  were  first  printed  in  what 
was  called  the  "Sunday  Service;"  but,  in 
1790,  they  were  incorporated  into  the  body  of 
the  discipline.  That  you  may  know  how  they 
are  interpreted  by  our  church,  I  will  quote  the 
REV.  RICHARD  WATSON'S  statement  of  those 

#  These  articles  were  originally  forty-two  in  number.  They 
•were  first  framed  by  Archbishop  Cranmer  and  Bishop  Ridley,  in 
1651.  After  being  approved  by  the  Convocation,  they  were 
published  in  English  and  Latin,  in  1653.  In  1562,  they  were 
revised  and  reduced  to  thirty-nine,  and  approved  by  the  Convo- 
cation. 


DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.       99 

points   in   them   for   the   defence   of   which 
Methodism  has  always  been  distinguished. 

"Methodists  maintain  the  total  fall  of 
man  in  Adam,  and  his  utter  inability  to  re- 
cover himself,  or  to  take  one  step  towards  his 
recovery,  'without  the  grace  of  God  pre- 
venting him,  that  he  may  have  a  good  will, 
and  working  with  him  when  he  has  that  good 
will.'  They  assert  that '  Christ,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  tasted  death  for  every  man.'  This 
grace  they  call  free,  as  extending  itself  freely 
to  all.  They  say  that  '  Christ  is  the  Saviour 
of  all  men,  especially  of  them  that  believe ;' 
and  that,  consequently,  they  are  authorized 
to  ofier  salvation  to  all,  and  to  '  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature.'  They  hold  justifi- 
cation by  faith.  '  Justification,'  says  Mr.  Wes- 
ley, '  sometimes  means  our  acquittal  at  the 
last  day,  Matt.  12:37;  but  this  is  altogether 
out  of  the  present  question;  for  that  justifi- 
cation, whereof  our  Articles  and  Homilies 
speak,  signifies  present  forgiveness,  pardon 
of  sins,  and  consequently  acceptance  with  God, 


100    DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM. 

•who  therein  declares  his  righteousness,  or 
justice,  and  mercy,  by  or  for  the  remission 
of  sins  that  are  past,  Rom.  3 :  25,  saying,  I 
will  be  merciful  to  thy  unrighteousness,  and 
thy  iniquities  I  will  remember  no  more.  I 
believe  the  condition  of  this  is  faith,  Rom. 
4 :  5,  &c. ;  I  mean,  not  only  that  without  faith 
we  cannot  be  justified,  but  also  that  as  soon 
as  any  one  has  true  faith,  in  that  moment  he 
is  justified.  Faith  in  general,  is  a  divine 
supernatural  evidence,  or  conviction,  of 
things  not  seen,  not  discoverable  by  our 
bodily  senses,  as  being  either  past,  future,  or 
spiritual.  Justifying  faith  implies,  not  only  a 
divine  evidence,  or  conviction,  that  God  was 
in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself, 
but  a  full  reliance  on  the  merits  of  his  death, 
a  sure  confidence  that  Christ  died  for  my 
sins ;  that  he  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for 
me ;  and  the  moment  a  penitent  sinner  be- 
lieves this,  God  pardons  and  absolves  him.' 

"  This   faith,   Mr.  Wesley  affirms,   '  is  the 
gift  of  God.     No  man  is  able  to  work  it  in 


DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.     101 

himself.  It  is  a  work  of  Omnipotence.  It 
requires  no  less  power  thus  to  quicken  a 
dead  soul,  than  to  raise  a  body  that  lies  in 
the  grave.  It  is  a  new  creation ;  and  none 
can  create  a  soul  anew  but  He,  who  first 
created  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  It  is  the 
free  gift  of  God,  which  he  bestows  not  on 
those  who  are  worthy  of  his  favor,  not  on 
such  as  are  previously  holy,  and  so  fit  to  be 
crowned  with  all  the  blessings  of  his  good- 
ness; but  on  the  ungodly  and  unholy,  on 
those  who,  till  that  hour,  were  fit  only  for 
everlasting  destruction;  those  in  whom  is 
no  good  thing,  and  whose  only  plea  was, 
God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner  1  No 
merit,  no  goodness  in  man,  precedes  the 
forgiving  love  of  God.  His  pardoning  mercy 
supposes  nothing  in  us  but  a  sense  of  mere 
sin  and  misery ;  and  to  all  who  see  and  feel 
and  own  their  wants,  and  utter  inability  to 
remove  them,  God  freely  gives  faith,  for  the 
sake  of  Him  in  whom  he  is  always  well 
pleased.  Good  works  follow  this  faith,  Luke 


102    DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM. 

6 :  43,  but  cannot  go  before  it ;  much  less  can 
sanctification,  which  implies  a  continued 
course  of  good  works  springing  from  holi- 
ness of  heart.' 

"  As  to  repentance,  he  insisted  that  it  is 
conviction  of  sin,  and  that  repentance  and 
works  meet  for  repentance,  go  before  justi- 
fying faith ;  but  he  held,  with  the  Church  of 
England,  that  all  works,  before  justification, 
had,  'the  nature  of  sin;'  and  that,  as  they 
had  no  root  in  the  love  of  God,  which  can 
only  arise  from  a  persuasion  of  his  being 
reconciled  to  us,  they  could  not  constitute 
a  moral  worthiness  preparatory  to  pardon. 
That  true  repentance  springs  from  the  grace 
of  God,  is  most  certain ;  but,  whatever  fruits 
it  may  bring  forth,  it  changes  not  man's  re- 
lation to  God.  He  is  a  sinner,  and  is  justi- 
fied as  such;  'for  it  is  not  a  saint,  but  a 
sinner,  that  is  forgiven,  and  under  the  notion 
of  a  sinner.'  God  justifieth  the  ungodly,  not 
the  godly.  Repentance,  according  to  his 
statement,  is  necessary  to  true  faith;  but 


DOCTRINES   PECULIAR  TO   METHODISM.     103 

faith  alone  is  the  direct  and  immediate  instru- 
ment of  pardon.  They  hold  also  the  direct 
internal  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the 
believer's  adoption. 

"  They  maintain  also,  that  by  virtue  of  the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  operations  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  their  privilege  to  arrive 
at  that  maturity  in  grace,  and  participation 
of  divine  nature,  which  excludes  sin  from  the 
heart,  and  fills  it  with  perfect  love  to  God 
and  man.  This  they  denominate  Christian 
perfection.  On  this  doctrine  Mr.  Wesley 
observes,  '  Christian  perfection  does  not  im- 
ply an  exemption  from  ignorance  or  mistake, 
infirmities  or  temptations ;  but  it  implies  the 
being  so  crucified  with  Christ,  as  to  be  able 
to  testify,  I  live  not,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me, 
Gal.  2 :  23,  and  hath  purified  their  hearts  by 
faith,  Acts.  15:  9.'  Again:  'To  explain  my- 
self a  little  farther  on  this  head:  1.  Not 
only  sin,  properly  so  called,  that  is,  a  volun- 
tary transgression  of  a  known  law ;  but  sin, 
improperly  so  called,  that  is,  an  involuntary 


104    DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM. 

transgression  of  a  divine  law,  known  or  un- 
known, needs  the  atoning  blood.  2.  I  believe 
there  is  no  such  perfection  in  this  life  as 
excludes  these  involuntary  transgressions, 
which,  I  apprehend  to  be  naturally  consequent 
on  the  ignorance  and  mistakes  inseparable 
from  mortality.  3.  Therefore,  sinless  per- 
fection is  a  phrase  I  never  use,  lest  I  should 
contradict  myself.  4.  I  believe  a  person 
filled  with  the  love  of  God  is  still  liable  to 
these  involuntary  transgressions.  5.  Such 
transgressions  you  may  call  sins,  if  you 
please ;  I  do  not,  for  the  reasons  above  men- 
tioned.' " 

With  respect  to  the  doctrine  of  "Final 
Perseverance,"  the  Methodists  hold  "  that 
God  gives  to  the  truly  faithful,  who  are 
regenerated  by  his  grace,  the  means  of  pre- 
serving themselves  in  this  state ;  yet  the 
regenerate  may  lose  true  justifying  faith, 
forfeit  their  state  of  grace,  and  die  in  their 
sins."  See  Ezek.  18 :  24,  and  33  : 18.  John 
15:6.  Heb.  6:4-6. 


DOCTRINES  PECULIAR  TO  METHODISM.  105 

These  doctrines,  though  taught  with  pecu- 
liar emphasis  and  distinctness  by  Mr.  Wes- 
ley and  his  followers,  did  not  originate  with 
him.  As  I  have  already  observed,  they  are 
as  ancient  as  Christianity.  The  opposite  ten- 
ets, now  known  as  Calvinism,  were  unknown 
to  the  primitive  church.  All  the  Fathers,  down 
to  the  time  of  AUGUSTINE,  an  African  bishop, 
who  flourished  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth 
century,  taught  the  truths  which  now  distin- 
guish the  Methodists  from  their  Calvinistic 
neighbors.  For  Calvin  himself  admits,  that 
none  of  the  Fathers,  either  Greek  or  Latin,  be- 
fore Augustine,  give  countenance  to  his  pecu- 
liar theology.  And  even  Augustine,  in  his  later 
works,  teaches  opinions  which  are  more  in 
harmony  with  the  theory  of  universal  re- 
demption and  its  consequents,  than  with  the 
scheme  of  predestination  and  limited  atone- 
ment, which  he  had  invented  at  an  earlier  pe- 
riod of  his  career. 

Now  if  Calvinism  is  taught  in  the  Bible, 
how  came  it  to  pass  that  the  contemporaries 


106     DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO    METHODISM. 

and  immediate  successors  of  the  apostles, 
knew  nothing  about  it  ?  Why  is  it  that  its 
first  appearance  in  the  written  theology  of 
the  primitive  church,  is  in  the  writings  of 
Augustine  the  African?  Does  it  appear 
probable  that  such  important  doctrines  as 
unconditional  election,  limited  atonement,  ir- 
resistible grace,  and  the  necessary  final  per- 
severance of  the  elect,  would  have  been  for- 
gotten or  overlooked,  and  that  their  contra- 
ries would  be  universally  received,  for  over 
three  hundred  years  after  Christ,  if  his  apos- 
tles had  taught  them  to  the  church  ?  Your 
common  sense  will  answer  in  the  negative. 
Your  reason  will  teach  you  that  this  silence 
of  all  the  Fathers  before  Augustine,  is  strong 
presumptive  proof  that  the  church  knew  noth- 
ing of  those  unscriptural  theories,  until  the 
philosophic  bishop  of  Hippo  evolved  them  in 
his  controversies  with  PELAGIUS  the  heretic. 
While  the  opposite  fact,  that  they  all  taught 
an  unlimited  atonement,  conditional  election, 
&c.,  affords  equally  strong  presumption,  that 


DOCTRINES    PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.     107 

these  latter  doctrines  were  received  by  them 
from  the  apostles.  These  things  being  so,  it 
is  clear  that  Methodist  doctrines  are  as  an- 
cient as  Christianity  —  that,  in  fact,  they  in- 
clude all  that  is  contained  in  Christianity,  and 
are  the  doctrines  of  Holy  Writ. 

The  doctrines  now  taught  by  Methodism 
were  also  taught  in  Germany  during  the 
palmiest  days  of  the  Reformation.  MELANC- 
THON  held  them.  LUTHER  toward  the  end  of 
his  life  endorsed  them.  The  greatest  lights 
of  the  Reformation  in  England  also  main- 
tained them ;  while  in  Holland,  they  were  no- 
bly upheld  by  ARMINIUS.  Mr.  Wesley  revived 
them,  and  they  are  now  received  by  the  ma- 
jority of  living  Christians. 

You  are  aware  that  the  doctrines  of  Meth- 
odism are  often  called  Arminianism.  They 
are  so  named  after  JAMES  ARMINIUS  of  whose 
history  I  will  give  you  a  brief  sketch. 

D'AufiiGNE  has  eloquently  and  truly  re- 
marked that  "  Men,  like  stars,  appear  on  the 
horizon  at  the  command  of  God ! "  James 


108     DOCTRINES    PECULIAR    TO    METHODISM. 

Arminius  was  one  of  these  stars.  By  his 
light,  God  saved  his  church  from  the  gloom 
and  darkness  of  the  stern  and  unscriptural 
theology  of  John  Calvin. 

Like  most  great  men,  James  Arminius 
sprung  from  the  people,  and  not  from  the 
titled  ranks  of  society.  His  father  was  a 
mechanic,  ingenious  and  respectable,  but  com- 
paratively poor.  James  was  born  in  1560, 
at  Oudewater,  in  Holland,  and  was  bereft  of 
his  father  while  yet  an  infant.  A  learned 
clergyman  kindly  received  him  under  his  roof, 
and  superintended  his  education.  When  fif- 
teen years  of  age,  Arminius  was  deprived  of 
this  friend  by  death.  But  his  extraordinary 
talents  attracted  the  attention  of  one  of  his 
townsmen,  a  learned  man,  who  took  him  to 
Marpurg,  in  Hessia,  and  caused  him  to  enter 
the  university.  While  here,  our  young  theo- 
logian, now  converted  to  God,  was  deprived 
of  his  mother,  brother,  and  sister.  They 
perished  in  the  overthrow  of  Oudewater  by 
the  Spanish  army. 


DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.     109 

In  1575,  Arminius  removed  to  Leyden  and 
entered  the  university  just  established  at  that 
place  by  the  Prince  of  Orange.  Here  he 
continued  six  years ;  when  the  municipal  au- 
thorities of  Amsterdam  assumed  the  expense 
of  his  future  academic  studies,  on  condition 
that  his  ministry  should  be  exercised  in  that 
city,  and  that  he  should  dispose  of  his  ser- 
vices only  as  they  might  approve. 

We  find  him  next  at  Geneva,  for  a  brief 
period ;  then,  at  Basle  for  a  year ;  and,  then, 
for  three  years  again  at  Geneva.  His  acade- 
mic studies  concluded,  he  made  a  short  tour 
in  Italy ;  tarried  awhile  at  Padua ;  and  then, 
returning  to  Holland,  he  was  ordained  pastor 
of  the  Dutch  Church  in  Amsterdam,  in  1588. 
In  1603,  he  was  elected  professor  of  Divinity 
in  the  university  of  Leyden;  and  on  the 
nineteenth  of  October,  1609,  he  died  a  calm 
and  peaceful  death,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine 
years. 

Arminius  was  held  in  very  high  estimation, 
for  his  attainments  and  genius,  -while  he  was 


110  DOCTRINES  PECULIAR  TO  METHODISM. 

a  student ;  and  his  success  and  popularity  as 
a  minister  and  professor  fully  justified  the 
high  opinion  formed  of  him  by  his  tutors  and 
fellow  students.  But  the  latter  years  of  his 
life  were  embittered  by  the  hostility  of  his 
Calvinistic  adversaries,  whose  malevolence, 
it  was  thought,  contributed  to  render  the 
disease  of  which  he  died,  fatal. 

His  controversy  with  the  Calvinists  was 
brought  about  by  a  request  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal senate  of  Amsterdam,  that  he  would  refute 
the  alleged  errors  of  a  pious  minister,  named 
COORNHERT,  who  had  assailed  the  opinions  of 
Calvin  on  Predestination,  &c.}  some  nine 
years  previously.  Applying  his  mind  to  the 
fulfilment  of  this  request,  he  was  led  to  such 
an  examination  of  Calvin's  dogmas  as  re- 
sulted in  a  conviction  that  they  were  unscrip- 
tural,  and  in  the  adoption  of  those  opinions 
to  which  his  name  has  since  been  attached. 
The  violent  assaults  of  the  Calvinistic  party 
on  himself,  and  on  his  opinions,  led  to  the 
writings  which  constitute  his  "  works." 


DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.     Ill 

After  the  death  of  Arminius,  his  followers 
were  cruelly  persecuted  by  the  Calvinists. 
A  synod  was  called  at  Dort,  in  1618,  by 
which  the  Arminians  were  pronounced  here- 
tics, were  excommunicated,  driven  from  their 
churches,  imprisoned,  fined,  and  banished. 
Their  name  became  a  by-word  and  reproach 
among  their  enemies.  And  it  has  been  a 
favorite  practice  among  Calvinists,  from  that 
time  until  now,  to  call  almost  every  form  of 
doctrinal  error  Arminianism.  "If  a  man 
hold  that  good  works  are  necessary  to  justi- 
fication ;  if  he  reject  the  doctrine  of  original 
sin ;  if  he  deny  that  divine  grace  is  necessary 
for  the  whole  work  of  sanctification ;  it  is 
concluded  that  he  is  an  Arminian.  But  the 
truth  is,  that  a  man  of  such  sentiments  is  a 
disciple  of  the  Pelagian  school.  To  such 
sentiments  pure  Arminianism  is  as  diametri- 
cally opposed  as  Calvinism  itself." 

You  may  be  told,  nevertheless,  that  the 
doctrines  of  Methodism  are  identical  with 
those  heresies,  misnamed  Arminianism,  which 


112     DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO    METHODISM. 

once  prevailed  among  the  New  England  Con- 
gregationalists,  and  which  "  rocked  the  cradle 
of  Unitariaiiism  in  a  hundred  churches." 

But  the  assertion  is  false.  The  heresy 
which  pervaded  those  churches  was  not  true 
Arminianism.  It  was  Pelagianism.  It  denied 
human  depravity ;  it  taught  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  by  works.  You  will  be  satisfied  on 
this  point  if  you  will  carefully  read  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  Mr.  Tracy's  History  of 
the  Great  Awakening.  That  writer  says  : — 

"  Rev.  Joseph  Peck  had  been  too  much  en- 
lightened by  conviction  of  sin  to  embrace 
Arminian  principles  at  large ;  but  still 
secretly  imagined  that  there  was  something 
in  men  to  begin  with,  and  which  gospel 
grace  came  to  make  perfect.  He  preached 
and  labored  with  his  own  heart  accordingly, 
but  could  not  get  to  such  a  pitch  as  to 
think  himself  ripe  for  grace,  or  with  any 
confidence  lay  claim  to  it,  because  he  found 
his  own  works  not  good  enough  to  build 
any  such  claim  upon;  so  it  was  for  several 


DOCTRINES   PECULIAR    TO   METHODISM.     113 

years,  till  it  pleased  God  *  *  to  show  him 
a  way  of  justification  by  faith,  without  the 
deeds  of  the  law." 

Describing  the  so-called  Arminian  minis- 
ters of  Connecticut,  Mr.  Tracy  says : — 

"  They  led  their  hearers  to  believe,  that 
by  a  certain  round  of  duties,  performed  while 
still  impenitent,  they  might  insure  their 
regeneration  ;  *  *  that  the  proper  course  for 
a  sinner  to  take  was  to  go  steadily  about 
the  duties  which  God  has  appointed  for 
impenitent  sinners  to  perform  before  conver- 
sion, and  leave  the  event  with  God."  "  This," 
says  Mr.  T.,  *  *  "  was  practically  Arminian- 
ism.  If  any  one  preached  Calvinism  thor- 
oughly, to  the  very  end  of  his  sermon, 
maintaining  that  God  has  made  no  promise 
to  such  as  industriously  perform  certain 
duties  while  impenitent,  that  nothing  done 
during  impenitence  counts  at  all  toward 
the  justification  of  the  doer,  that  deferring 
repentance  and  faith,  and  doing  something 
else  first,  is  flat  rebellion  against  God,  all 
8 


114    DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM. 

such  preaching  was  condemned  as  Antino- 
mian;"  p.  309,  History  of  the  Great 
Awakening. 

Edwards  gives  a  similar  view  of  the 
alleged  Arminianism  of  those  times  in  the 
following  sentence : — 

"According  to  Arminian  principles  men 
have  a  good  and  honest  heart,  the  very 
thing  that  is  the  grand  requisite  in  order  to 
God's  acceptance,  *  *  before  they  have  the 
proper  condition  of  salvation"  Edwards' 
Works,  p.  581,  Vol.  2. 

I  will  now  quote  a  sentence  or  two  from 
Watson's  Dictionary,  descriptive  of  the 
salient  points  in  the  system  of  Pelagius,  pre- 
mising that  PELAGIUS  was  a  British  monk 
who  lived  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury. Visiting  Eome,  with  his  friend  CELES- 
TIUS,  he  opposed  the  "  received  notions  con- 
cerning original  sin,  and  the  necessity  of  the 
divine  grace."  Watson  says  he  is  repre- 
sented as  teaching  "  that  mankind  derived  no 


DOCTRINES   PBCULIAE   TO   METHODISM.     115 

injury  from  the  sin  of  Adam ;  that  we  are 
now  as  capable  of  obedience  to  the  will  of 
God  as  he  was,  *  *  that  men  are  born  with- 
out vice  as  well  as  without  virtue.  That  it 
is  possible  for  men,  provided  they  fully  em- 
ploy the  powers  and  faculties  with  which 
they  are  endued,  to  live  without  sin  ;  "  and 
Watson  adds,  "  though  he  did  not  deny  that 
external  grace,  or  the  doctrines  and  motives 
of  the  gospel,  are  necessary,  yet  he  is  said 
to  have  rejected  the  necessity  of  internal 
grace,  or  the  aids  of  the  Divine  Spirit." 

By  comparing  the  italicised  sentences  in 
the  above  quotations,  you  will  perceive  that 
what  Edwards  and  Tracy  call  Arminianism 
is  strictly  identical  with  the  peculiar  views 
of  Pelagius.  Both  systems  denied  the  doc- 
trines of  original  sin,  and  the  absolute  de- 
pendence of  man  for  regeneration  on  the 
grace  of  God;  both  taught  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  by  works,  in  opposition  to  the 
scriptural  and  Methodistical  theory  of  salva- 


116  DOCTRINES  PECULIAE  TO  METHODISM. 

tion  by  grace,  and  justification  by  faith 
alone.* 

With  these  facts  and  statements  before 
you,  I  think  you  will  be  convinced  that  those 
who  charge  Methodism  with  a  likeness  to  the 
heresy  which  desolated  the  churches  of  the 
last  century,  are  "  false  accusers,"  and  conse- 
quently unworthy  of  your  confidence  in  this 
matter. 

For  a  further  view  of  the  points  of  differ- 
ence between  Pelagianism  and  Arminianism, 
see  Appendix  No.  1. 

There  is  yet  another  misrepresentation  of 

#  This  just  distinction  between  a  true  and  false  Arminianism 
is  recognized  and  stated  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clarke,  Secretary  of 
the  Home  Missionary  Society,  in  his  "  Historical  Discourse,"  in 
the  following  note:  "The  term  (Arminianism)  is  used  here 
and  throughout  this  discourse  to  denote  the  doctrine  of  Do 
AND  LIVE,  or  salvation  by  works,  a  system  which  dispenses 
with  the  necessity  of  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit's  agency, 
and  is  more  properly  named  Pelagianism.  In  this  sense  of  tho 
word,  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  Arminius  was  himself  an 
Anninian.  But  as  the  word  was  uniformly  employed  by  our 
fathers  of  the  last  century  to  indicate  these  Pelagian  views, 
•which  were  coming  into  the  churches,  it  is  thought  best  to 
retain  it  in  tracing  its  growth." 


DOCTRINES   PECULIAE   TO   METHODISM.     117 

Arminianism  which  your  proselyting  friends 
may  use  to  excite  your  prejudices.  They 
may  tell  you,  in  the  words  of  a  recent  writer, 
that  Romanism  has  its  "  basis  in  the  Armin- 
ian  doctrines."  "Romanism,"  they  may  say, 
"like  Methodism,  denies  the  doctrines  of 
election,  of  efficacious  grace,  of  perseverance ; 
it  inculcates  the  existence  of  sinless  per- 
fection, and  even  more,  of  works  of  superer- 
ogation j  that  is,  becoming  more  than  perfect. 
And  with  these  Methodist  doctrines  Roman- 
ism has  wrought  with  fearful  power." 

But  you  must  not  permit  such  a  statement 
as  this  to  influence  your  action,  because  it  is 
as  groundless  as  the  one  I  have  just  laid 
bare.  By  looking  at  the  eleventh  article  of 
religion  in  the  discipline  (p.  19)  you  will  see 
that  it  denounces  works  of  supererogation 
thus:  "Voluntary  works,  besides,  over  and 
above  God's  commandment,  which  are  called 
works  of  supererogation,  cannot  be  taught 
without  arrogance  and  impiety." 

With  respect  to  "  sinless  perfection,"  Mr. 


118    DOCTRINES   PECULIAR  TO   METHODISM. 

Wesley  says  it  is  a  "phrase  I  never  use." 
It  has  never  been  taught  by  the  Methodist 
Church. 

Nor  is  it  true  that  Romanists  are  generally 
Arminians.  They  have  always  had  no  incon- 
siderable number  of  believers  in  the  dogmas 
of  Augustine  in  their  communion.  Says 
Mosheim,  (vol.  3,  p.  106,)  "  The  Dominicans, 
(the  most  powerful  of  the  monkish  orders) 
the  Augustinians,  the  followers  of  Jansenius, 
and  likewise  many  others,  deny  that  divine 
grace  can  possibly  be  resisted,  *  *  *  deny 
that  there  are  any  conditions  annexed  to  the 
eternal  decrees  of  God  respecting  the  salva- 
tion of  all  men,  and  other  kindred  doc- 
trines;" in  other  words,  these  orders  and 
sectaries  of  the  Romish  Church  teach  the 
views  of  high  Calvinists.  And  when  Luther 
and  his  coadjutors  taught  the  opinions  which 
entered  into  the  scheme  of  Arminius,  the 
Romish  Church,  says  Mosheim,  approved 
"  Augustine's  sentiments,"  which  are  substan- 
tially identical  with  Calvin's.  The  truth  is, 


DOCTEINES    PECULIAR   TO    METHODISM.     119 

the  views  which  distinguish  both  the  Armin- 
ian  and  Calvinistic  schools  have  always  been 
largely  represented  in  the  Papal  Church,  and 
so  long  as  both  parties  were  otherwise  faith- 
ful to  her  claims,  she  has  tolerated  both.  It 
cannot  be  said  of  Romanism  that  it  has  been 
or  is  Calvinist  or  Arininian.  It  has  been 
and  still  is,  both,  and  neither  scheme  of 
theology  is  responsible  for  its  errors. 

Thus,  you  see,  this  attempt  to  identify 
Methodist  doctrines  with  Romanism  is  futile. 
It  stands  on  assumptions  which  are  histori- 
cally false,  and  cannot  therefore  command 
your  credence. 

Hold  fast  then,  beloved  convert,  to  Metho- 
dist doctrines.  They  are  scriptural,  reason- 
able, full  of  comfort,  full  of  power  to  meet 
the  demands  of  your  spiritual  nature.  Under 
their  inspiration  the  primitive  church  spread 
itself  over  the  world.  They  begat  holy 
courage  in  the  confessor,  and  heavenly  hero- 
ism in  the  martyr,  during  the  heroic  age  of 
the  church.  They  gave  life  to  the  best  period 


120    DOCTRINES    PECULIAR   TO    METHODISM. 

and  the  best  advocates  of  the  Reformation. 
Their  proclamation  by  Wesley  and  his  co- 
adjutors woke  the  slumbering  church  of  the 
last  century  to  new  life ;  and  gave  birth  to  a 
spiritual  quickening  which  saved  Christianity 
from  the  death  which  threatened  it,  and 
which  is  felt  to  this  day  all  over  the  Chris- 
tian world.  Supported  by  them,  millions  of 
holy  souls  have  successfully  solved  the  awful 
problem  of  their  probation,  have  triumphed 
in  their  conflict  with  death,  and  have  departed 
to  reign  with  the  Great  Teacher  by  whom 
they  were  revealed.  Hold  them  fast,  there- 
fore, and  they  will  guide  you  to  their  author's 
throne. 

On  the  contrary,  if  you  embrace  Calvin- 
ism, you  will  be  involved  in  a  labyrinth  of 
perplexities.  Ultra  Calvinism  (see  Appendix, 
No.  2)  with  its  horrible  decrees  of  uncondi- 
tional election  of  some  to  life,  and  its  fore- 
ordination  of  others  to  death,  with  its  infant 
damnation  and  passive  regeneration,  will  dis- 
gust your  reason,  wound  your  sense  of  justice, 


DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM.     121 

pain  your  sensibilities,  and  embarrass  your 
experience.  Moderate  Calvinism,  with  its 
fallacious  distinction  between  gracious  and 
natural  ability,  will  equally  perplex  you,  if 
you  are  honest  and  inquiring ;  because  you 
will  always  feel  conscious  that  you  are 
obliged  to  dogmatically  reject  its  logical 
consequences,  or  be  compelled  to  accept  the 
most  repulsive  features  of  ultra  Calvinism. 
Added  to  this  mental  embarrassment,  will  be 
the  fact  that  the  Calvinist  theology  will  chill 
your  experience.  It  will  hold  you  in  agoniz- 
ing doubt  as  to  your  being  one  of  the  elect ; 
or  else  it  will  tempt  you  to  indifference,  on 
the  ground  that  whether  you  struggle  ear- 
nestly for  life,  or  glide  indolently  down  the 
stream,  the  result,  being  absolutely  foreor- 
dained and  unalterably  fixed,  will  be  the 
same.  Thus  distracted  or  tempted  by  your 
theology,  your  experience,  in  all  probability, 
will  be  sad,  painful,  unsatisfactory.  The 
childlike  trust,  the  unwavering  confidence,  the 
rapturous  love,  the  beaming  hope,  the  aspir- 


122    DOCTRINES   PECULIAR   TO   METHODISM. 

ing  energy,  the  tireless  effort,  which  spring 
from  the  doctrines  of  Methodism,  will  be 
almost  lost  to  you.  But  I  need  not  urge  this 
point  with  you.  You  see  that  the  Scriptures, 
common  sense,  and  the  demands  of  your 
spiritual  life,  all  point  you  to  Methodism; 
and  you  will,  I  feel  persuaded,  conscientiously 
follow  their  guidance,  despite  of  all  influence 
from  without. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    FOUNDER    OF    METHODISM. 

jHE  Oriental  world  produces  a 
singular  tree,  which,  in  several 
of  its  characteristics,  not  un- 
aptly illustrates  the  rise  and 
growth  of  Methodism.  This  tree, 
it  is  called  the  BANIAN  TREE,  has  a 
woody  stem,  branching  to  a  great 
height  and  vast  extent.  Every  branch  throws 
out  new  roots,  which  descend  to  the  earth, 
strike  in,  and  increase  to  large  trunks,  from 
which  new  branches  grow,  and  new  roots  are 
again  produced.  This  progression  continues 
until  the  original  tree  literally  becomes  a 
forest.  In  like  manner,  Methodism,  begin- 
ing  with  a  single  society,  threw  out  branches 
with  depending  roots.  These  roots,  striking 
into  new  portions  of  the  community,  grew 


124     THE  POUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

into  new  churches.  These  again  were  re- 
productive. This  progress  has  steadfastly 
continued.  It  continues  now.  Little  more 
than  a  century  has  elapsed  since  it  threw  up 
its  first  shoot;  yet, rooted  in  every  quarter  of 
the  globe,  it  already  bids  fair  to  cover  the 
earth  with  its  branches,  and  to  fill  the  world 
with  its  influences. 

The  creation  of  this  great  spiritual  fellow- 
ship, numbering  in  all  its  branches  over  two 
millions  of  communicants,  in  so  short  a 
period,  is  a  phenomenon  unparalleled  by  any 
fact  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  church 
since  the  apostolic  era.  Who  can  study  the 
simplicity  of  its  beginnings,  the  rapidity  of 
its  growth,  the  stability  of  its  institutions, 
the  amazing  power  of  its  influence  on  Chris- 
tianity in  general,  its  present  vitality  and 
activity,  its  commanding  position,  and  its 
prospective  greatness,  without  exclaiming  in 
a  spirit  of  astonishment  and  gratitude, 
«  What  hath  God  wrought  ?  " 

I    have    already    pointed    out    numerous 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM.     125 

spiritual  advantages,  which  you  may  person- 
ally enjoy  in  the  fellowship  of  Methodism. 
I  now  wish  you  to  take  a  broader  view  —  to 
stand  like  a  traveller  upon  a  mountain's  peak, 
and  survey  the  system  from  its  beginning 
until  now, —  to  study  the  character  of  its 
founders,  mark  the  hand  of  God  in  its  sur- 
prising development,  examine  its  vast  spirit- 
ual results,  and  convince  yourself  that,  of  all 
existing  churches,  it  is  the  most  highly 
honored  of  God,  the  most  beneficial  to  the 
world.  Let  us  glance  first  at  the  man  by 
whose  piety,  labors,  and  genius  it  arose. 

Methodism,  considered  as  an  organization, 
is  of  recent  date.  It  sprang,  as  you  know, 
from  the  pious  labors  of  the  two  Wesleys 
and  their  devoted  compeers.  John  Wesley, 
however,  must  be  regarded  as  its  true  founder. 
But  for  him,  though  there  might  have  been  a 
powerful  revival  of  spiritual  religion,  there 
would,  in  all  probability,  have  been  no  Meth- 
odist church.  He  alone  possessed  the  faculty 
of  organization  and  government,  which  was 


126     THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

necessary  to  gather  up,  combine,  and  con- 
struct the  spiritual  results  of  the  revival  into 
a  church.  He  led  the  great  Methodistic 
movement,  and  stamped  the  image  of  his 
own  mind  upon  it.  He  devised  the  simple 
institutions,  organized  the  ministry,  and 
governed  the  societies,  which,  in  their  devel- 
opment, grew  into  the  various  Methodist 
churches  now  existing  in  different  parts  of 
the  world.  It  will,  therefore,  be  proper  to 
give  you  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life  and 
character. 

JOHN  WESLEY  was  born  in  the  rectory  of 
Epworth,  England,  June  17,  1703.  His 
father,  SAMUEL  WESLEY,  the  rector,  was  a 
scholarly,  pious,  sternly  energetic,  indepen- 
dent man, —  a  true  man  and  a  faithful  minister. 
His  mother,  SUSANNA  WESLEY,  was  a  woman 
of  extraordinary  intelligence  and  force  of 
mind,  of  correct  judgment,  vivid  apprehen- 
sion of  truth,  and  ardent  piety.  Under  their 
training,  Wesley  passed  his  boyhood  up  to 
his  eleventh  year,  his  mother  paying  peculiar 


THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     127 

attention  to  the  formation  of  his  character, 
because  of  his  singular  escape,  when  a  little 
boy,  from  his  chamber,  when  the  rectory  was 
destroyed  by  fire.  He  was  educated,  first  at 
the  Charter  House,  then  at  Oxford.  He  was 
ordained  a  deacon  in  the  church  of  England, 
in  1725.  The  next  year  he  was  elected  a 
"Fellow"  of  Lincoln  college,  and  in  1728 
was  ordained  a  priest. 

For  a  few  months,  he  acted  as  curate  for 
his  father  at  Epworth.  But  being  strongly 
urged  to  become  the  tutor  of  several  young 
gentlemen  at  Oxford,  he,  returned  thither  in 
1729.  His  first  act,  almost,  was  to  form  a 
society  composed  of  himself,  his  brother 
Charles,  Mr.  Morgan,  and  Mr.  Kirkham. 
The  object  of  this  society  was  "  to  promote 
each  other's  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual 
improvement."  To  accomplish  this,  they 
spent  "  three  or  four  evenings  a  week  togeth- 
er, reading  the  Greek  Testament,  with  the 
Greek  and  Latin  classics.  On  Sunday  even- 
ings, they  read  divinity."  They  also 


128     THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM. 

adopted  various  rules  for  the  better  govern- 
ment of  their  lives,  and  the  improvement  of 
their  time.  They  visited  the  sick,  relieved 
the  poor,  circulated  the  scriptures,  fasted 
much,  prayed  much,  denied  themselves  of 
every  sinful  amusement  and  indulgence,  at- 
tended the  means  of  grace  very  strictly,  and 
sought  to  reach  the  highest  possible  spiritual 
attainments. 

This  strict  course  of  life,  so  unusual 
among  the  inmates  of  the  college,  SOOD 
brought  down  an  avalanche  of  persecution 
upon  their  heads.  Scorn,  rebuke,  insult,  fell 
upon  them  abundantly,  from  all  quarters. 
Their  fidelity  to  their  sense  of  duty  cost 
them  the  good  opinion  of  most  of  their  col- 
lege companions,  who  stigmatized  them  with 
such  titles  as  the  "  Holy  Club,"  the  «  Godly 
Club,"  the  "Enthusiasts,"  the  "Reforming 
Club,"  "Methodists,"  "Supererogation  men," 
and  so  on.  But,  like  their  master,  they  stood 
undaunted  in  the  presence  of  persecution. 
Its  only  effect  was  to  stimulate  their  zeal, 


THE  POUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     129 

quicken   their   devotion,  and   increase  their 
numbers. 

You  will  observe,  my  dear  reader,  that 
although  these  young  men  were  termed  Meth- 
odists at  Oxford,  by  way  of  ridicule,  yet 
Methodism  proper  was  not  yet  organized. 
That  band  of  young  men  did  not  constitute  a 
"Methodist  society."  Its  members  were 
only  styled  Methodists  by  way  of  reproach, 
just  as  spiritually  minded  men  had  been 
called  "  Methodists  "  in  a  sermon  preached 
at  Lambeth  a  hundred  years  before,  and  at 
several  other  times  and  places.  The  first 
Methodist  "  Society,"  properly  so  called,  was 
not  formed  until  1739,  when  Mr.  Wesley 
organized  "the  United  Society,"at  the  Foun- 
dery  in  London.  This,  says  THOMAS  JACK- 
SON, in  his  life  of  Charles  "Wesley,  p.  179, 
"  was  the  rise  of  the  United  Societies,  which 
now  constitute  what  is  usually  called  the 
Wesleyan  connection."  The  rules  for  their 
government  were  drawn  up  in  1743,  by  Wes- 
ley, when  he  divided  the  societies  into  classes. 
9 


130     THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

Hence,  all  that  one  of  our  enemies  has  said 
about  the  Methodist  church  being  composed 
in  its  origin  of  "four  unregenerate  young 
men,"  whose  "worship"  was  "reading  the 
Greek  and  Latin  classics"  is  the  offspring 
of  downright  frivolity,  if  not  of  deliberate 
wickedness. 

After  spending  nearly  six  years  as  a  tutor 
at  Oxford,  Mr.  Wesley,  having  refused  the 
rectorship  of  Epworth,  made  vacant  by  his 
father's  death,  sailed  with  his  brother  to 
Georgia,  hoping  "  to  raise  up  a  holy  people 
in  that  distant  land."  He  was  not  very  suc- 
cessful in  his  labors.  The  loose  manners  of 
the  colonists  called  forth  his  sternest  rebukes, 
which,  with  the  strictness  of  his  own  life,  and 
the  stringency  of  his  ecclesiastical  discipline, 
excited  great  opposition.  A  bitter  persecu- 
tion, headed  by  a  worthless  official  named 
CAUSTON,  arose  against  him.  The  colony 
resounded  with  the  outcries  of  his  adversa- 
ries. They  propagated  all  sorts  of  slanders 
about  him,  and  finally  presented  him  to  the 


THE  POUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     131 

grand  jury.  This  jury,  which  was  packed 
with  his  avowed  enemies,  brought  in  two 
bills  containing  ten  counts,  nine  of  which 
related  to  his  ecclesiastical  administration. 
The  whole,  if  true,  did  not  affect  his  moral 
or  religious  character  in  the  smallest  degree. 
But  they  were  all  either  false  or  frivolous, 
as  was  shown  in  a  paper  sent  to  the  trustees 
of  the  colony,  by  twelve  of  the  jurors  who 
dissented  from  the  majority.  After  seeking 
in  vain  to  obtain  a  hearing  before  the  court, 
and  seeing  no  opportunity  for  further  useful- 
ness in  Georgia,  Mr.  Wesley,  having  given 
public  notice  of  his  intention,  left  Savannah, 
and  returned  to  England,  where  he  arrived, 
in  February,  1738.  After  his  departure,  the 
true  character  of  his  chief  persecutor,  Mr. 
Causton,  became  apparent.  That  worthy 
had  already  left  England,  in  disgrace,  for  a 
fraud  on  the  government.  Detected  in  a  sim- 
ilar peculation  in  the  colony,  he  was  deposed 
from  office  by  the  Governor.  And  such  was 
the  reaction  of  public  feeling  in  Mr.  Wesley's 


132     THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM. 

favor,  that  when  Mr.  WHITEFIELD  visited  Sa- 
vannah, a  few  months  after  Wesley's  depart- 
ure, he  wrote  thus : — "  The  good  Mr.  John 
Wesley  has  done  in  America,  under,  God,  is 
inexpressible.  His  name  is  very  precious 
among  the  people  !  " 

The  only  fault  committed  by  Mr.  Wesley  in 
Georgia,  was  his  perhaps  too  rigid  enforce- 
ment of  the  canons  of  his  church.  His  moral 
character  was  unspotted.  His  religious  life 
was  strict,  almost  ascetic.  For  these  things 
worldly-minded  professors,  and  world-seek- 
ing colonists  hated  him.  Methodists  have  no 
need  to  blush  for  that  part  of  their  founder's 
life  spent  in  Georgia,  albeit  an  unscrupulous 
scribbler  has  had  the  hardihood,  in  contradic- 
tion of  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  to  insinuate 
the  contrary. 

Up  to  the  time  of  Wesley's  return  to  Eng- 
land, he  had  not  enjoyed  a  clear  consciousness 
of  faith  in  Christ.  His  religion  was  that  of 
the  legalist,  consisting  in  unceasing  devotion 
to  the  duties,  unaccompanied  by  the  consola- 


THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     133 

tions,  of  an  Evangelical  faith.  His  voyage  to 
America  had  introduced  him  to  the  Moravi- 
ans. What  he  saw  of  their  experience  con- 
vinced him  that  his  own  religious  life  was  de- 
fective, and  prepared  him  to  listen  to  his 
learned  friend  PETER  BOHLER,  through  whose 
instructions  he  was  led  to  trust  in  Christ 
alone  for  "  the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith." 
On  the  24th  of  May,  1738,  while  listening  to 
a  discourse  on  Christian  experience,  he  says : 
"  I  felt  my  heart  strangely  warmed.  I  felt  I 
did  trust  in  Christ,  Christ  alone  for  salva- 
tion ;  and  an  assurance  was  given  me  that  he 
and  taken  away  my  sins,  even  mine,  and  saved 
me  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death."  He  was 
then  thirty-five  years  old. 

With  an  overflowing  heart  Mr.  Wesley  now 
began  to  proclaim  the  doctrine  of  salvation 
by  faith,  first  in  the  churches,  and  then,  at  the 
suggestion  of  his  friend  Whitefield,  in  the 
open  air.  The  effect  was  instantaneous  and 
wonderful.  He  seemed  girded  with  power 
from  above.  Wherever  he  preached  men  were 


134     THE  POUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

pricked  to  the  heart.  Streams  of  blessings 
poured  from  heaven  upon  his  labors.  His 
brother  Charles,  his  friend  Whitefield,  and 
several  other  clergymen  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
land, were  equally  successful.  Men  and  wo- 
men were  converted  by  thousands.  The  ex- 
piring dissenting  churches  of  the  day  were 
quickened.  New  life  impregnated  British 
Protestantism.  The  infidelity  of  the  age  was 
rebuked.  Hundreds  of  men  were  thrust  out 
into  the  ministry.  Societies  were  formed  in 
all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  A  conference  of 
ministers  was  organized,  and,  at  length,  a 
powerful  connection  established. 

These  results  were  not  accomplished  with- 
out great  toils,  great  sacrifices,  great  suffer- 
ings. To  achieve  them,  Mr.  Wesley  preached 
forty  thousand  sermons,  and  travelled  two 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  miles.  He, 
with  his  coadjutors,  also  endured  much  perse- 
cution. I  know  it  has  been  tauntingly  said, 
that  Methodism  "  cannot  boast  of  the  honors 
and  unmistakeable  characteristics  of  Christ's 


THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     135 

church  —  the  loss  of  one  drop  of  blood,  a  be- 
headed saint,  persecution,  a  flight,  or  having 
been  hid  from  the  rage  of  enemies  for  a  sea- 
son." "  And  that  no  Methodist  was  ever  be- 
headed for  his  attachment  to  the  truth ;  never 
persecuted  to  death  or  to  flight,  for  his  re- 
ligion." (Iron  Wheel,  pp.  29,  32.) 

These  statements  are  slanderous.  A  man 
who  would  make  them,  would  affirm  that  light 
is  darkness,  if  it  suited  his  purpose.  Metho- 
dism never  persecuted  ?  Alas,  how  ignorant 
or  depraved  that  writer  must  be  who  so 
affirms !  Methodism  never  persecuted  ? 
What  is  the. history  of  its  infancy,  but  a  re- 
cord of  persecutions?  —  aye,  of  persecutions 
as  thrilling  and  severe  as  those  recorded  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  True,  the  fact  of 
its  rise  in  a  Protestant  and  nominally  Chris- 
tian country,  prevented  its  confessors  from 
sealing  their  faith  on  the  scaffold.  But  if  it 
be  persecution  to  suffer  the  loss  of  reputation, 
the  spoiling  of  goods,  personal  violence,  judi- 
cial accusations,  imprisonment,  fines,  and  to 


136     THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

be  put  in  constant  peril  of  life,  then  the  early 
Methodists  have  suffered  persecutions  abun- 
dant, and  the  assertion  of  Mr.  Graves  is  as 
false  as  his  favorite  dogma,  that  the  Baptist 
is  the  only  true  church  of  Christ  on  earth. 

Partly  to  confute  his  false  assertion,  and 
partly  to  refresh  you  with  a  few  pictures  of 
the  unsurpassed  heroism  of  the  early  Metho- 
dists, I  have  brought  together  a  few  facts 
from  the  history  of  the  Wesleys. 

I  have  already  told  you  how  the  Wesleys 
were  persecuted  by  their  college  associates  at 
Oxford,  and  how  John  suffered  for  his  re- 
ligious strictness  in  Georgia.  But  when  the 
devoted  brothers  broke  away  from  the  order 
of  the  church,  and  began  their  extraordinary 
career  of  evangelism,  the  outcry  against  them 
was  so  loud  and  general  as  to  put  them  out- 
side the  pale  of  respectable  society.  They 
were  excluded  from  the  pulpits  of  the  church 
of  England,  denounced  by  nearly  all,  regarded 
as  enthusiasts  and  madmen,  and  treated  as 
the  "  filth  and  offscouring  of  all  things."  So 


THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     137 

strong  did  the  current  of  prejudice  run  against 
these  great  and  good  men,  that  he  who  dared 
to  defend  them,  periled  his  own  reputation. 
"  How  notorious  is  it,"  says  Wesley,  "  that  if 
a  man  dare  to  open  his  mouth  in  my  favor,  it 
needs  only  be  replied,  '  I  suppose  you  are  a 
Methodist  too,'  and  all  he  has  said  is  to  pass 
for  nothing!"  A  fact  or  two,  selected  at 
random  from  their  memoirs,  will  show  that 
this  expression  was  far  from  being  hyper- 
bolical. 

At  ST.  IVES,  the  rector  of  the  parish  church 
publicly  denounced  Charles  Wesley  and  the 
Methodists,  as  enemies  of  the  church,  sedu- 
cers, troublers,  scribes  and  pharisees,  hypo- 
crites. At  WEDNOCK,  the  curate,  Charles 
Wesley  being  present,  delivered  himself  of 
such  a  "  hotch-potch  of  railing,  foolish  lies,  as 
Satan  himself  might  have  been  ashamed  of." 
During  his  first  vist  to  Cornwall  the  "  clergy 
preached  against  him  with  great  vehemence, 
and  represented  his  character  and  designs  in 
the  worst  possible  light."  At  CORK,  in  Ire- 


138     THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

land,  the  grand  jury  found  "  Charles  Wesley 
to  be  a  person  of  ill  fame,  a  vagabond,  and  a 
common  disturber  of  his  majesty's  peace," 
and  they  prayed  that  "  he  might  be  trans- 
ported! "  And  at  Birstall,  in  1744,  a  charge 
of  treason  was  preferred  against  him,  and  a 
warrant  issued  summoning  witnesses  to  ap- 
pear against  him ! 

If  a  good  man's  reputation  is  next  in  value 
to  the  purity  of  his  character  —  if  it  be  a 
jewel  of  higher  value  than  the  diadems  of 
princes,  dearer  to  a  man  of  a  high  sense  of 
honor  than  even  life  itself,  then  it  is  clear 
that  the  early  Methodists  demonstrated  their 
fidelity,  when  they  cast  it  away  for  Christ's 
sake.  To  say  that  a  people  who  purchased 
their  ecclesiastical  existence  with  the  loss  of 
their  reputation  were  never  persecuted,  is  to 
drivel,  not  reason. 

But  the  early  Methodists  did  not  escape 
with  the  loss  of  reputation  alone.  They  were 
persecuted  to  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  to 
flight,  to  stoning,  to  suffering,  and  even  to 


THE  POUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     139 

death,  as  the  following  facts,  selected  at  ran- 
dom from  a  multitude  of  similar  events,  will 
abundantly  prove. 

For  crossing  the  field  of  an  enemy  to  re- 
ligion, to  meet  his  congregation  at  Kensing- 
ton Common,  Charles  Wesley  was  fined  fifty 
dollars  with  costs,  amounting  to  as  much 
more. 

At  NOTTINGHAM,  the  rabble  of  the  county 
laid  waste  all  before  them  that  belonged  to 
the  Methodists.  Two  of  the  brethren  lost  a 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  their  property. 

At  ST.  IVES,  while  Charles  Wesley  was 
preaching,  the  people  beat  their  drums,  shout- 
ed, stopped  their  ears,  ran  upon  him,  and 
tried  to  pull  him  down.  With  a  fearless 
spirit  the  heroic  reformer  retreated  from 
these  "lions'  whelps,"  and  escaped  unhurt. 
At  MOBVA,  just  as  he  named  his  text,  "an 
army  of  rebels  broke  in  upon  his  meeting, 
threatening  to  murder  the  people.  They 
broke  the  sconces,  dashed  the  windows  in 
pieces,  bore  away  the  shutters,  benches,  poor 


140     THE  POUNDER  OP  METHODISM. 

box,  and  all  but  the  stone  walls.  Several 
times  they  lifted  their  hands  to  strike  Mr. 
Wesley,  but  a  stronger  arm  restrained  them. 
They  beat  and  dragged  the  women  about, 
particularly  one  of  a  great  age,  and  "  tram- 
pled on  them  without  mercy"  At  WEDNOCK, 
the  mob,  says  Charles  Wesley,  assaulted  us 
with  sticks  and  stones,  and  endeavored  to 
pull  me  down.  Ten  cowardly  ruffians  I  saw 
upon  one  unarmed  man,  beating  him  with 
their  clubs,  till  they  felled  him  to  the  ground. 
Another  escaped  by  the  swiftness  of  his  horse. 
At  St.  Ives,  again,  the  mob  threw  eggs  in  at 
the  windows.  Others  cast  great  stones  to 
break  what  remained  of  the  shutters.  Oth- 
ers struck  the  women,  and  swore  they  would 
pull  the  house  down. 

During  one  of  his  tours  in  Ireland,  Charles 
was  riding  with  several  brethren  from  Tyr- 
rell's  Pass,  to  Athlone,  when  he  was  beset  by 
a  company  of  Papists.  One  of  his  compan- 
ions was  knocked  from  his  horse  by  a  stone, 
beat  in  the  face  with  a  club,  and  would  have 


THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     141 

been  killed  with  a  knife  but  for  timely  aid. 
Another  was  struck  on  the  head  with  a  stone. 
Wesley  received  a  violent  blow  in  the  back. 
But  for  the  timely  arrival  of  a  company  of 
dragoons  from  Athlone,  the  whole  company 
would,  in  all  probability,  have  been  murdered. 
This  murderous  assault  was  planned  and  in- 
stigated by  Father  Ferrill,  a  Catholic  priest. 

At  CORK,  the  Methodists  were  sorely  per- 
secuted. Any  of  the  baser  sort,  from  time 
to  time,  cut  and  beat  both  men  and  women, 
to  the  hazard  of  their  lives.  It  was  danger- 
ous for  any  member  of  the  society  to  be  seen 
abroad. 

At  WEDNESBURY,  in  October,  1743,  Mr. 
John  Wesley  was  greatly  maltreated  by  a 
mob,  which  was  instigated  to  drive  him  out 
of  the  county  by  the  incessant  denunciations 
of  the  vicar  of  the  place,  the  curate  of  Wai- 
sal,  and  the  vicar  of  Darlastan. 

After  preaching  at  Wednesbury,  Mr.  Wes- 
ley retired  to  write  at  the  house  of  a  friend. 
The  mob  surrounded  the  house,  shouting: 


142     THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

"  Bring  out  the  minister !  "We  will  have  the 
minister !  "  After  some  parleying,  Mr.  Wes- 
ley showed  himself  at  the  door,  and  asked  to 
go  with  them  to  a  magistrate.  It  was  now 
dark  and  raining.  But  they  dragged  him  to 
Bentley  Hall,  two  miles  distant.  From 
thence  they  took  him  to  Walsal.  At  last 
they  concluded  to  conduct  him  back  to  Wed- 
nesbury ;  but  on  their  way  met  another  mob, 
and  fell  to  fighting  among  themselves.  As 
they  re-entered  Wednesbury,  Mr.  Wesley 
seeing  the  door  of  a  large  house  open,  at- 
tempted to  enter,  but  one  of  the  mob  caught 
him  by  the  hair  of  the  head  and  pulled  him 
back  into  the  middle  of  the  crowd.  They 
then  carried  him  the  entire  length  of  the 
town.  Seeing  another  door  half  open,  Wes- 
ley made  toward  it,  but  was  forbidden  to 
enter  by  the  owner,  lest  the  mob  should  pull 
it  down  over  his  head. 

Wesley  now  confronted  his  foes  and  asked, 
"  Are  you  willing  to  hear  me  speak  ?  " 

"  No  !  No  !  knock  his  brains  out !     Down 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM.     143 

with  him  !  Away  with  him,  kill  him  at  once ; 
tear  off  his  clothes !  Drown  him !  Hang 
him  on  the  next  tree !  Throw  him  into  a 
pit ! "  yelled  the  mob,  waxing  increasingly 
furious. 

"  Nay,  but  we  will  hear  him  first  I "  cried 
others ;  while  others  again  said,  "  Don't  kill 
him  here,  carry  him  out  of  the  town !  Don't 
bring  his  blood  upon  us  !  " 

He  then  spoke  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour, 
till  his  voice  failed.  The  mob  then  renewed 
its  shouts,  threatening  him  with  violence. 
At  length,  three  or  four  stout  fellows,  one  of 
whom  was  the  ringleader,  moved  by  a  sudden 
impulse,  resolved  to  rescue  him.  After  much 
struggling  and  hustling,  they  got  him  out  of 
the  town,  on  to  the  meadows.  When  the 
crowd,  wearied  with  its  own  violence,  had 
retired,  these  men  conducted  him  to  his  lodg- 
ings. His  clothes  were  torn  to  tatters ;  he 
had  been  struck  at  repeatedly,  and  many  had 
tried  to  pull  him  down. 

During   this    frightful   scene   the  members 


144     THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM. 

of  the  society,  excepting  four  who  kept  with 
him  ready  to  die  with  him  if  they  could  not 
save  him,  had  fled  for  their  lives.  Yet  the 
mob  threw  one  woman  into  the  river,  and 
broke  the  arm  of  a  young  man. 

Commenting  on  his  remarkable  deliverance 
from  this  mob,  Mr.  Wesley  refers  to  similar 
hair-breadth  escapes  from  the  "  sons  of  Belial," 
in  the  following  language :  "  Two  years  ago 
a  piece  of  brick  grazed  my  shoulders.  It 
was  a  year  after  that  a  stone  struck  me  be- 
tween the  eyes.  Last  month  I  received  one 
blow,  and  this  evening  two;  *  *  one  man 
struck  me  on  the  breast  with  all  his  might, 
and  the  other  on  the  mouth,  with  such  force 
that  the  blood  gushed  out  immediately  !  " 

When  the  ringleader  of  this  furious  mob 
was  converted,  as  he  was  a  very  few  days 
afterwards,  Charles  Wesley  asked  him  what 
he  thought  of  his  brother.  "  Think  of  him  !  " 
he  replied,  "  that  he  is  a  mon  of  God,  and 
God  was  on  his  side,  when  so  many  of  us 
could  not  kill  one  mon !  " 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM.     145 

At  DUDLEY,  says  C.  Wesley,  the  Methodist 
preacher  was  cruelly  abused  by  a  mob  of 
Papists  and  dissenters.  Probably  he  would 
have  been  murdered  but  for  an  honest  Quaker 
who  helped  him  to  escape  with  his  broad  hat 
and  coat. 

At  DARLASTON,  rioters  broke  into  the 
houses  of  the  Methodists,  robbing  and  de- 
stroying ;  and  papers  were  sent  round  to  the 
adjacent  towns  inviting  all  the  country  to 
rise  and  destroy  the  Methodists  ! 

At  NOTTINGHAM,  says  C.  Wesley,  I  called 
at  Bro.  Saut's,  and  found  him  just  brought 
home  for  dead.  The  mob  had  knocked  him 
down,  and  would  probably  have  murdered 
him,  but  for  the  cries  of  a  little  child.  It 
was  some  time  before  he  came  to  himself, 
having  been  struck  on  the  temples  by  a  large 
log  of  wood. 

Up  to  1744,  the  magistrates  had  generally 

refused  to  act,  and  had  left  the  Methodists  at 

the  mercy  of  violent  and  cruel  men.      Then 

they  interfered,  and  endeavored  by  an  abuse 

10 


146     THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM. 

of  their  power,  and  the  perversion  of  law, 
to  crush  a  defenceless  people.  This  made 
their  condition  worse. 

Another  species  of  indignity  to  which  the 
early  Methodist  preachers  were  subjected 
was  their  impressment  into  the  British  army, 
on  the  pretence  that  their  occupation  was 
irregular,  and  their  lives  vagabondish. 
Among  those  who  suffered  in  this  way,  were 
JOHN  NELSON,  THOMAS  BEARD,  MR.  DOWNES, 
and  MR.  MAXFIELD.  These  devoted  breth- 
ren were  torn  from  their  families,  shut  up  in 
prison,  and  compelled  to  do  military  duty 
until  their  friends  procured  their  deliverance 
by  application  to  the  heads  of  the  Govern- 
ment, or  by  procuring  substitutes.  But  poor 
THOMAS  BEARD  found  deliverance  through 
death  only.  He  was  too  delicate  to  endure 
the  fatigues  of  a  soldier's  life.  He  sank 
beneath  the  burden,  and  died  as  truly  a  mar- 
tyr to  Christianity  as  Paul  or  Peter. 

But  I  must  cease  my  citations.  I  could 
fill  this  volume  with  the  details  of  the  per- 


THE  POUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     147 

seditions  endured  by  the  first  generation  of 
Methodists  for  the  Gospel's  sake.  No  his- 
toric fact  is  more  certain  than  that  Mr. 
Wesley,  with  most  of  his  early  preachers 
could  adopt  in  substance,  the  language  of  the 
persecuted  and  laborious  Paul,  and  say, 
"  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods,  once  was  I 
stoned.  *  *  In  journeyings  often,  in  perils 
of  waters,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  by 
mine  own  countrymen,  in  perils  in  the  city, 
in  perils  in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  amongst 
false  brethren,  in  weariness  and  painfulness, 
in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in 
fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness." 

But  notwithstanding  these  undeniable  facts, 
a  living  Baptist  preacher  dares  to  assert  that 
Methodism  was  never  persecuted  to  the  loss 
of  a  drop  of  blood,  or  to  flight!  And  a 
Congregational  minister  in  the  State  of  Mas- 
sachusetts endorses  him.  Strange  assertion ! 
Deformed  offspring  of  a  mind  willingly  ignor- 
ant of  the  true  history  of  the  church  it  ma- 


148     THE  FOUNDER 'OF  METHODISM. 

ligns !      Its   author   cannot   credit   his   own 
assertion,  unless  he  is 

"  Like  one 

Who  having  to  untruth,  by  telling  of  it, 
Made  such  a  sinner  of  his  memory, 
To  credit  his  own  lie." 

Having  endured  "  hardness  like  a  good  sol- 
dier," and  having  reached  the  green  old  age 
of  eighty-eight,  John  Wesley  died,  March  2d, 
1791.  His  death  was  as  beautiful  as  his  life 
was  active.  He  retained  his  vigor  to  the 
last,  and  died  almost  on  the  field  of  battle, 
exclaiming,  as  he  prepared  to  cast  aside  his 
mortal  robe:  "THE  BEST  OF  ALL  is,  GOD  is 
WITH  us.  He  causeth  his  servant  to  lie  down 
in  peace.  The  Lord  is  with  us.  The  God 
of  Jacob  is  our  refuge.  I  '11  praise.  I  '11 
praise  !  Farewell."  And  thus,  with  the  song 
of  a  conqueror  on  his  lips,  he  ascended  to 
heaven. 

Before  calling  your  attention  to  the  spir- 
itual structure  founded  by  this  great  reformer, 
I  will  point  out  some  interesting  resem- 


THE  POUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     149 

blances  between  him  and  the  hero  of  the 
"Reformation,"  MARTIN  LUTHER.  Though 
somewhat  episodical,  I  know  you  will  not 
object  to  it,  because  you  are  anxious  to  attain 
a  true  conception  of  the  founder  of  our 
church. 

To  begin  with  their  birth,  I  find  LUTHER 
born  and  nursed  in  the  lap  of  respectable 
poverty.  WESLEY  had  a  kindred  origin. 
For,  although  the  family  at  EPWORTH  could 
boast  a  higher  lineage  and  a  superior  social 
grade  to  that  of  the  German  miner,  yet,  it  is 
questionable  whether  the  pecuniary  straits  of 
the  good  rector,  Wesley's  father,  at  Epworth, 
were  not  as  pinching  as  those  of  Luther's 
peasant  parents  at  EISLEBEN.  And,  if  young 
Luther,  after  the  fashion  of  poor  German  stu- 
dents, sung  songs  at  EISENACH  for  bread, 
young  Wesley,  like  many  other  English  schol- 
ars, obtained  his  education  from  the  munifi- 
cent provisions  of  the  Charter  House,  and 
from  a  foundation  scholarship  at  Christchurch ; 
at  which  places  he  doubtless  endured  more 


150     THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM. 

from  the  merciless  despotism  practised  upon 
a  poor  "fag"  in  those  days, than  Luther  ever 
suffered  in  his  peregrinations  as  a  beggar  stu- 
dent. 

Intellectually,  they  appear  to  have  be- 
longed to  the  same  high  grade  of  minds. 
They  were  both  master  spirits,  "large  in 
heart  and  brain;"  yet,  perhaps,  neither  of 
them  can  properly  be  classed  with  the  very 
highest  order  of  philosophic  intellects,  the 
splendor  of  whose  genius  places  them  in  un- 
approachable grandeur,  far  above  the  ordi- 
nary level  of  mankind.  Still,  they  were  great 
men,  and  men  of  extraordinary  powers.  To 
both,  the  acquisition  of  learning  was  easy ; 
and,  as  in  their  youth  both  led  a  scholastic 
life,  they  became  superior  scholars,  thorough- 
ly versed  in  the  classics,  well  read  in  general 
literature,  in  theology,  and  particularly  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Both  had  remarkably 
ready  and  retentive  memories ;  large  powers 
of  perception  and  comparison;  and  hence, 
they  both  became  admirable  dialecticians. 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM.     151 

In  original  imaginative  power,  I  incline  to 
give  the  palm  to  Luther ;  while,  in  everything 
relating  to  taste,  the  laurel  must  be  placed 
on  the  brow  of  Wesley.  They  both  appear 
to  have  possessed  the  power  of  realising 
truth  in  an  unusual  degree.  To  them,  their 
ideas  were  as  living  presences,  in  whose 
reality  and  truthfulness  they  believed  as 
firmly  as  in  their  own  consciousness.  Hence 
proceeded  that  wondrous  vigor  which  charac- 
terized their  preaching  and  writing;  which 
made  their  thoughts  glow  with  the  energy  of 
life,  and  gave  their  words  a  force  that  was 
irresistible  and  overwhelming. 

In  their  early  religious  experience,  we  find 
some  points  of  dissimilitude.  Luther,  though 
always  bearing  an  unstained  moral  character, 
was  not  serious  in  his  childhood  and  youth. 
He  relished  the  facetious  and  military 
amusements  so  beloved  by  German  students ; 
and  his  mind  turned  with  strong  aversion 
from  the  serious  aspects  of  the  priesthood, 
and  even  from  the  gravity  of  the  law.  A 


152     THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM. 

sudden  judgment  —  the  death  of  a  compan- 
ion, struck  down  at  his  side  by  a  flash  of 
lightning  —  first  turned  his  mind  to  sober 
thoughts  of  spiritual  things.  That  catastro- 
phe, acting  upon  his  impulsive  nature,  led  to 
a  sudden  revolution  in  his  purposes.  It  sent 
him  to  the  monastery  at  ERFURT.  It  made 
him  a  priest. 

But  Wesley  was  always  serious.  His  pure 
life  knew  no  episode  of  frivolity  or  worldly 
folly.  At  the  age  of  eight  years  he  partook 
of  the  sacrament,  and  was  grave  and  prayer- 
ful from  his  boyhood  to  his  tomb.  Yet  had 
they  this  in  common :  they  both  struggled  for 
a  long  time  in  darkness,  through  ignorance 
of  the  great  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
Both  sought  for  peace  on  the  ascetic  princi- 
ple—  by  works.  Bitter  tears  did  Luther 
shed  in  his  lonesome  cell,  cruel  penances  did 
he  undergo,  long  fastings  and  weary  watch- 
ings  did  he  endure,  in  the  vain  hope  of  find- 
ing relief.  And  by  severe  self-denial,  by 
long  and  frequent  prayers,  by  self-sacrificing 


THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     153 

acts  of  benevolence,  "Wesley  toiled  to  secure 
intercourse  with  Heaven.  Of  course  they 
both  failed.  But  in  the  conflict  the  monk  of 
Erfurt  suffered  more  than  the  "fellow"  of 
Oxford;  for  his  mental  agonies  well  nigh 
cost  him  his  reason.  This  was  partly  owing 
to  the  solitude  in  which  he  lived.  His  mind 
had  no  relief  through  contact  with  the  world. 
It  was  shut  up  to  its  own  reflections.  Had 
Wesley,  with  his  almost  equally  intense  mind, 
been  confined,  like  his  great  prototype,  he 
had  doubtless  suffered  with  equal  anguish. 
But  he,  while  unresting  and  sad  at  heart, 
found  some  relief  for  his  feelings  in  the 
ceaseless,  self-imposed  activity  of  his  life. 

Luther  penetrated  the  gloom  which  envel- 
oped him,  unaided  by  man.  By  profound  re- 
flection on  the  Word  of  God,  illuminated  by 
the  Divine  Spirit,  he  discovered  the  sweet 
doctrine  that  man  ia  justified  by  faith  alone. 
This  delightful  truth  broke  in  upon  his  long, 
dark  night  of  grief,  like  a  bright  and  beauti- 
ful star,  and  it  guided  him  to  a  peace  so  de- 


154     THE  POUNDER  OP  METHODISM. 

lightful  that  he  declared  it  was  like  entering 
the  open  portals  of  Paradise. 

It  was  otherwise  with  Wesley.  He  was 
led  to  the  discovery  of  this  cardinal  truth  by 
the  guidance  of  human  minds.  To  me  it  is 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  facts  in  history, 
that  a  mind  so  clear  and  logical,  so  well  read 
in  the  homilies  of  his  church,  and  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Reformers,  so  conversant  with  the 
Bible,  so  sincere,  so  earnest  in  its  seekings 
after  truth,  should  miss  of  finding  this  sim- 
ple doctrine.  What  is  it  but  a  singular  illus- 
tration of  human  blindness  in  spiritual  things, 
without  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  Per- 
haps it  was  necessary  to  fit  the  learned  Oxo- 
nian for  his  mission,  that  his  steps  should  be 
directed  to  Christ  through  the  instrumentali- 
ty of  the  simple-hearted  Moravians. 

But  these  great  spirits  resembled  each 
other  in  that  utter  unselfishness  and  purity 
of  intention  which  are  the  essential  elements 
of  the  martyr-spirit.  Luther's  worldly  inter- 
ests were  on  the  side  of  silence  towards  the 


THE  POUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     155 

abuses  of  the  papacy.  Had  he  sought  to  se- 
cure them,  there  is  little  question  that  he 
might  have  worn  a  mitre.  The  same  is  true 
of  Wesley.  But  the  history  of  both  men 
shows  that,  in  their  respective  movements, 
they  ignored  all  selfish  considerations,  and 
deliberately  placed  wealth,  reputation,  and 
personal  safety  on  the  altar  of  duty.  Wedded 
to  truth,  they  were  dead  to  all  other  voices 
and  charms.  Hence,  Luther,  with  all  his 
greatness,  lived  in  poverty,  and  died  leav- 
ing only  a  house  and  a  legacy  of  a  thousand 
florins  to  his  beloved  CATHARINE,  and  her 
children.  Wesley,  too,  though  considerable 
sums  of  money  passed  through  his  hands,  died 
comparatively  a  poor  man,  owing  to  his  sys- 
tematic and  princely  benevolence,  having  no 
property  except  his  publications,  which  he 
bequeathed  to  the  connection. 

Again,.  I  see  a  marked  agreement  between 
them  in  their  habit  of  acting  independently, 
and  from  their  own  self-determinations. 
Neither  of  them  despised  the  counsels  of 


156     THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

other  men,  but  neither  acted  from  mere  ad- 
vice. Their  decisions  were  made  from  the 
depths  of  their  own  minds,  after  a  calm  and 
careful  survey  of  the"  path  to  be  trodden,  and 
prayerful  application  to  Heaven  for  light. 
Thus,  Luther's  first  denunciations  of  TETZEL, 
his  burning  of  the  papal  bull,  his  appearance 
before  the  diet  at  Worms,  his  marriage  with 
the  nun,  CATHARINE  YON  BORA,  with  all  his 
great  movements,  proceeded  from  his  own 
purposes  independently  formed,  and  carried 
out  on  his  own  personal  responsibility.  The 
same  things  are  equally  true  of  Wesley.  His 
own  mind  always  chose  the  path  he  trod, 
and  chose  it  distinctly  as  being  its  own  choice 
—  its  own  view  of  duty.  Eminently,  there- 
fore, did  these  great  men  possess  the  quality 
of  self-determination. 

In  courage,  too,  they  were  equally  heroic 
and  sublime.  They  both  stood  firm  and  un- 
daunted in  danger ;  immovable  and  unchange- 
able in  difficulty.  Luther's  courage  is  unques- 
tionable. The  man,  who,  with  the  fate  of 


THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     157 

Huss  before  his  eyes,  with  the  dust  of  unnum- 
bered martyrs  floating  on  the  winds  over* 
every  part  of  EUROPE,  could  stand  up  and 
strike  a  blow,  for  which  they  had  perished, 
who  dared  to  smite  a  foe,  which,  BRIARIUS 
like,  could  stretch  forth  a  hundred  arms  of 
power,  and  whose  voice  made  monarchs  trem- 
ble in  their  palaces  —  that  man  was  no  cow- 
ard !  Without  the  loftiest  courage  how  could 
he  have  stood  undaunted  in  the  German  Diet, 
before  nearly  three  hundred  dignitaries,  to 
assert  truths,  which,  for  a  thousand  years, 
men  had  not  dared  to  speak?  The  brave 
knight,  GEORGE  FRUNDSBERG,  did  not  over- 
estimate his  peril,  when  he  said  to  him  as  he 
entered  the  diet :  "  Monk  1  look  to  it  I  you 
are  about  to  hazard  a  more  perilous  march 
than  we  have  ever  done  ! "  But  he  did  haz- 
ard it,  with  more  than  knightly  courage :  and 
his  bravery  stands  unimpeachable. 

Nor  was  Wesley  less  courageous  than  Lu- 
ther. True,  he  never  threw  himself  on  the 
bosses  of  the  papal  buckler,  for  he  had  no 


158     THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

occasion ;  nor  did  he  ever  confront  a  royal 
diet ;  but  he  did  frequently  do  that  which  de- 
manded equal  self-possession,  and  equal  hero- 
ism. He  stood  unappalled  in  the  midst  of 
furious  mobs  which  clamored  for  his  life,  and 
threatened  to  tear  him  in  pieces.  The  man 
who  could  do  this,  could  have  denounced  the 
Vatican,  or  stood  unmoved  in  the  halls  of 
kings,  had  circumstances  required.  His  cour- 
age, like  Luther's,  grew  out  of  an  absorption 
in  the  great  object  of  his  mission,  so  com- 
plete as  to  make  him  superior  to  every  sign 
of  personal  danger.  As  in  the  Royal  Diet, 
Luther  forgot  himself  in  his  desire  to  give 
utterance  to  truth ;  so,  in  the  mobs  of  Eng- 
land, Wesley's  heart  burned  with  a  desire  to 
save  his  angry  enemies,  so  earnest,  it  exclud- 
ed all  thoughts  of  himself.  The  courage  of 
both  rested  on  moral  principles,  for  neither 
of  them  possessed  that  natural  courage  which 
led  NELSON  to  say  he  "  never  knew  fear ;  " 
and  which  rendered  him  perfectly  indifferent 
amid  showers  of  cannon  balls.  The  terror 


THE  POUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     159 

of  Luther  at  his  companion's  death,  and  Wes- 
ley's fear  of  death  in  the  Atlantic  storm, 
show  that  their  natural  courage  was  not 
uncommon.  Theirs  was  a  moral  heroism, 
sustained  by  moral  forces,  and  not  by  mere 
animal  stoicism. 

In  zeal,  in  moral  energy,  in  unceasing  in- 
dustry, they  were  both  examples.  Luther 
did  the  duties  of  a  university  professor,  of  a 
preacher,  and  an  author.  His  writings,  like 
Wesley's,  are  a  library  in  themselves ;  while 
the  amount  of  travel  and  of  preaching  per- 
formed by  Wesley  almost  exceeds  belief. 

As  writers,  they  are  alike  distinguished  by 
the  nervousness,  vigor,  directness,  and  bold- 
ness of  their  style.  Luther  is  the  better  po- 
lemic of  the  two ;  Wesley  the  more  spiritual 
and  apostolic;  Luther  is  diffuse;  Wesley  is 
concise  and  epigrammatic;  Luther  uses  the 
most  rhetoric,  but  it  is  sometimes  rude  and 
coarse ;  while  Wesley,  rigidly  simple  and  un- 
adorned, always  writes  with  purity,  and  even 
delicacy.  Both  are  distinguished  for  their 


160     THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM. 

habit  of  deferential  appeal  to  the  Scriptures 
as  the  source  of  all  authority,  and  the  only 
standard  of  truth. 

Viewing  their  religious  character,  we  give 
the  preference  to  Wesley.  His  repose  on 
Christ  was  more  calm  and  abiding  than  that 
of  the  great  German.  Luther  was  subject  to 
tormenting  mental  conflicts,  and  to  seasons 
of  deep  depression.  Wesley  rested  in  calm, 
almost  undisturbed,  composure  upon  God. 
Luther  was  less  meek,  less  patient,  less  gen- 
tle than  Wesley.  He  dealt  more  harshly 
with  his  adversaries,  and  displayed  a  temper 
and  stubbornness,  at  times,  which  mar  the 
beauty  of  his  piety.  Wesley,  on  the  contra- 
ry, was  mild  and  gentle,  even  toward  his  ene- 
mies. Though  he  exercised  a  vast  amount 
of  power  over  his  societies,  toward  the  last 
of  his  life,  yet  he  never  used  it  harshly  or  se- 
verely. He  regarded  his  societies  as  his 
family,  his  children,  beloved  in  Christ ;  and 
his  authority  was  that  of  the  mildest  and 
most  tender  parent.  But  it  ought  not  to  be 


THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     161 

forgotten  that  Wesley's  early  training,  by  his 
excellent  mother,  gave  him  the  advantage,  in 
matters  of  self-discipline,  over  Luther.  Be 
sides  this,  the  manners  and  spirit  of  Luther's 
times  must  be  considered.  He  had  to  do 
with  headstrong  and  fiery  minds,  and  to  en- 
dure harrassing  trials;  he  had  to  watch 
against  an  intriguing  priesthood,  who  thirst- 
ed, like  wolves,  for  his  blood.  In  fact,  his 
public  life  was  mostly  passed  in  a  whirlpool 
of  tumultuous  human  passions.  That  he 
should,  under  such  circumstances,  yield,  at 
times,  to  the  natural  impetuosity  of  his  tem- 
per, is  not  surprising.  Had  he,  however, 
possessed  the  clear,  triumphant  faith  of  Wes- 
ley, he  might  have  won  a  more  perfect  vic- 
tory, and  have  become  a  more  complete  ex- 
ample of  the  truth  he  taught. 

Other  points  of  comparison  crowd  upon 
me,  but  I  forbear ;  and  close  with  a  glance  at 
their  respective  labors.  Yet  who  can  either 
estimate  or  compare  the  labors  of  these  two 
reformers  ?  To  estimate  the  value  of  their 
11 


162     THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

work  is  impossible ;  for  it  is,  as  yet,  incom- 
plete. They  still  live.  Their  spirits  still 
animate  society,  and  not  until  the  last  judg- 
ment will  it  be  possible  to  measure  the  ex- 
tent and  value  of  the  work  they  wrought. 

But  their  labors  may  be  compared.  Thus 
viewed,  the  reformation  of  Luther  appears  to 
have  prepared  the  way  for  the  Wesley  an  re- 
vival. Luther's  mission  was  chiefly  to  eman- 
cipate thought  —  to  set  mind  free  from  the 
chains  of  authority  —  to  teach  ecclesiastical 
and  civil  rulers,  that  they  have  no  control  over 
the  human  conscience.  The  means  by  which 
he  did  this,  was  the  simple  assertion  of  evan- 
gelical doctrine  in  opposition  to  papal  here- 
sies. He  affirmed  every  man's  individual 
right  to  judge  of  all  questions  of  truth  and 
duty,  independently  of  priest,  pope,  or  coun- 
cil. By  thus  establishing  the  paramount 
authority  of  conscience  and  Scripture,  he  par- 
alyzed the  arm  of  the  Papacy,  he  freed  vast 
numbers  from  its  bondage,  and  taught  them  to 
exercise  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and 


THE  FOUNDER  OP  METHODISM.     163 

of  freedom  to  worship  God.  In  the  perform- 
ance of  this  great  work,  the  truths  he  uttered 
became  a  seed  of  spiritual  life  to  many; 
but,  mainly,  his  reformation  was  rather  a 
reformation  of  opinion — a  declaration  of  re- 
ligious liberty  — than  a  spiritual  revival. 

In  this  mixed  form  the  "  reformation  found 
its  way  to  Great  Britain,  where  it  produced 
the  Scottish  Covenanter,  and  the  English 
Puritan.  By  their  sturdy  fidelity,  and  by 
their  swords,  the  great  idea  of  the  Lutheran 
Reformation  —  religious  liberty — was  firmly 
established  in  British  institutions;  but  its 
spiritual  element,  when  Mr.  Wesley  ap- 
peared, had  well  nigh  exhausted  itself,  and 
spiritual  religion  was  almost  extinct  there, 
and  throughout  the  world. 

Wesley's  mission  was,  therefore,  to  revive 
the  spiritual  element  of  the  Lutheran  Refor- 
mation. But  for  Luther,  he  would  have  had 
to  do  Luther's  work.  But  that  being  done, 
the  doctrine  of  religious  liberty  being  under- 
stood and  established,  it  was  given  to  him  to 


164     THE  FOUNDER  OF  METHODISM. 

spread  a  new  religious  life  throughout  his 
country  and  the  world.  This,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  he  accomplished.  His  voice  woke 
the  reformation  from  its  slumber,  roused  it 
to  an  evangelic  vitality  —  such  as  it  never 
previously  enjoyed;  and  which  has  since 
spread  itself  through  many  lands.  Thus 
while  Luther's  work  prepared  the  way  for 
Wesley,  "Wesley  put  new  life  into  the  Lu- 
theran Reformation,  and  pushed  it  to  glori- 
ous spiritual  results.  And  now  that  the 
Christian  life,  evoked  by  their  instrumen- 
tality, flows  on,  in  one  widening,  deepening, 
branching  stream  of  blessedness,  to  all  parts 
of  the  earth  j  ere  long,  all  nations  shall  hail 
it  with  joy ;  and,  when  all  have  tasted  its 
blessedness,  the  world  will  do  equal  honor  to 
both,  as  great,  good,  and  mighty  men  of  God, 
entrusted  by  him  to  do  a  good  work,  and  as 
having  proved  faithful  in  the  execution  of 
that  high  trust.  May  their  spirit  live  and 
abide  in  the  church  forever.  Amen ! 


CHAPTER  VII. 

RISB  AND   GROWTH   OF   METHODISM. 

'S  from  the  smitten  rock  in  the 
wilderness,  the  abundant  waters 
flowed  at  the  bidding  of  the 
Almighty,  to  quench  the  thirst 
of  a  feverish  and  fainting  people, 
so  did  Methodism  flow  forth  to  give 
fresh  life  to  the  expiring  Christianity 
of  the  age.  Its  birth  was  from  above,  and 
its  author  was  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Wes- 
ley s,  Whitefield,  and  their  coadjutors,  were 
only  the  instruments  of  its  propagation.  On 
being  powerfully  converted,  those  holy  men, 
following  the  impulses  of  the  spiritual  life, 
went  forth  preaching  the  truth,  and  seeking 
to  spread  scriptural  holiness  over  the  land 
of  their  birth.  The  idea  of  founding  a 
church,  did  not  enter  into  their  conceptions 


166      RISE   AND    GROWTH   OP   METHODISM. 

for  many  years ;  and  when  it  appeared  neces- 
sary to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  societies 
that  they  should  be  organized  into  churches, 
Mr.  Wesley  accepted  the  idea  as  a  necessity, 
and  provided  for  its  realization  with  manifest 
reluctance.  He  had  no  ambition  to  be  the 
founder  of  a  sect.  That  honor  was  awarded 
him  by  the  Providence  of  God. 

I  have  attributed  the  rise  of  Methodism  to 
the  Spirit  of  God.  Am  I  not  right  ?  Whence 
did  it  come,  if  not  from  the  workings  of  that 
Holy  Being?  It  certainly  did  not  spring 
from  the  English  Episcopal  Church,  for  that 
church  did  not  give  the  Wesleys  a  clear  con- 
ception of  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  only.  They  were  indebted  for 
their  perception  of  that  truth  to  Peter  Boh- 
ler,  and  the  Moravian  brethren.  Hence,  the 
human  instrumentality  through  which  the 
spiritual  life  of  Methodism  flowed,  was  not 
the  Episcopal,  but  the  Moravian  Church ;  a 
fact  which  sufficiently  answers  all  the  rant  of 
the  "  Iron  Wheel "  about  the  relations  of 


RISE   AND    GROWTH   OP   METHODISM.      167 

Methodism  to  the  English  Episcopal  Church. 
But  the  Moravians  were  only  instruments. 
The  life  of  Methodism  came  from  heaven, 
when,  on  the  evening  of  May  24,  1738,  God 
"  strangely  warmed "  John  Wesley's  heart, 
and  gave  him  assurance  that  he  "  had  taken 
away  "  his  sins. 

That  experience  was  Mr.  Wesley's  Pente- 
cost. Three  days  before,  Charles  had  expe- 
rienced a  similar  baptism.  By  the  self-same 
Spirit,  the  brothers  were  made  new  men  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Hitherto,  they  had  been  ser- 
vants; now  they  were  children.  From  this 
time,  as  with  the  Apostles  after  their  Pente- 
cost, a  divine  energy  attended  their  preaching. 
Vast  multitudes  were  awakened  and  con- 
verted. These  new-born  souls,  attracted  to 
their  spiritual  parents  and  to  each  other,  by 
the  affinities  of  their  new  interior  life,  met, 
like  the  disciples  in  the  primitive  church,  for 
prayer  and  spiritual  fellowship.  They  de- 
sired Mr.  Wesley's  advice.  For  the  sake  of 
convenience  and  order,  he  formed  them  first 


168      RISE   AND    GROWTH    OF   METHODISM. 

into  societies,  and  then  into  classes.  When 
these  societies  multiplied,  he  drew  up  "  rules  " 
for  their  government.  When  the  Holy  Spirit 
moved  numbers  of  the  converts  to  preach 
the  gospel,  Wesley  employed  them,  with 
manifest  reluctance  at  first,  to  call  the  nation 
to  repentance.  When  these  preachers  in- 
creased, and  God  had  abundantly  owned 
their  labors,  he  was  fully  satisfied  that  their 
vocation  was  from  above  j  and,  therefore,  in 
1744,  he  formed  them  into  a  Conference. 
Thus  he  proceeded,  step  by  step,  wisely  pro- 
viding for  exigencies  as  they  arose,  but  never 
anticipating  the  progress  of  events.  His  aim 
was  strictly  a  spiritual  one.  His  personal 
wish  was  that  his  societies  should  remain  in 
connection  with  the  Established  Church. 
But  God  overruled  that  wish,  and  he  was 
compelled,  at  last,  to  give  them  the  only  re- 
maining thing  necessary  to  constitute  them 
churches  of  Christ,  viz. :  the  privilege  of  hav- 
ing the  sacraments  administered  by  their  own 
preachers,  and  in  their  own  houses  of  wor- 


RISE   AND    GROWTH    OP   METHODISM.       169 

ship.  When  this  was  yielded,  they  ceased  to 
be  mere  societies  in  a  church  —  they  became 
churches  of  Christ,  having  within  themselves 
all  the  elements-  which  went  to  make  up  the 
apostolic  church,  viz. :  an  interior  life  derived 
from  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  preached  Word,  the 
ordinances  of  the  gospel,  meetings  for  Chris- 
tian fellowship,  government.  In  one  word, 
they  were  essentially  identical  with  the  first 
church  at  Jerusalem,  which  is  described  as 
receiving  the  "  word,"  the  ordinances,  and  as 
continuing  in  "  fellowship  "  and  in  prayers. 
See  Acts  2  :  41,  42. 

Such,  in  brief,  was  the  rise  of  Methodism 
in  England.  Small  in  its  beginning  —  a 
cloud  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand — it  grew 
with  wonderful  rapidity.  It  throve  in  spite 
of  the  acorn  of  the  rich,  the  contumely  of  the 
proud,  the  persecutions  of  the  ministry,  (the 
dissenting  clergy  not  excepted,)  and  the  bar- 
barity of  mobs.  Like  the  chamomile,  the 
more  it  was  trampled  upon,  the  more  it  flour- 
ished. Hence,  when  Mr.  Wesley  died,  fifty- 


170      RISE    AND    GROWTH    OP   METHODISM. 

two  years  after  he  organized  the  first  Metho- 
dist Society,  properly  so  called,  his  societies 
in  Great  Britain  alone,  included  upwards  of 
eighty  thousand  souls ! 

In  America,  the  rise  of  Methodism  was 
also  distinctly  marked  by  the  finger  of  God. 
His  providence  provided  for  its  existence  on 
this  Continent  through  several  instruments. 
To  New  York  he  directed  the  steps  of  PHILIP 
EMBURY,  a  local  preacher  from  Ireland,  who 
arrived  in  that  city  in  1765.  The  absence  of 
spiritual  help,  and  the  irreligious  influence  of 
the  time,  caused  Mr.  Embury  to  neglect  his 
soul,  and  to  grow  worldly.  To  revive  him, 
God  led  an  elect  lady,  BARBARA  HICK,  with 
her  family,  from  Ireland  to  New  York.  In 
her  heart  the  fires  of  grace  burned  glorious- 
ly. Her  rebuke  awoke  the  backsliding  local 
preacher  to  a  sense  of  duty.  He  returned 
to  his  Redeemer,  preached  the  gospel  in  his 
own  house,  formed  a  class,  hired  a  room  for 
public  worship,  and  thus  laid  the  foundations 
of  the  Methodist  temple  on  this  Continent. 


RISE   AND    GROWTH   OP   METHODISM.       171 

But  if  these  emigrants  at  New  York  had 
failed  to  plant  the  good  seed  of  Methodism, 
CAPTAIN  WEBB,  converted  under  Wesley,  a 
"  man  of  fire,"  was  residing  in  Albany,  faithful- 
ly cherishing  the  life  of  God,  and  ready  to 
embrace  the  first  opportunity  to  sow  the  liv- 
ing seed  of  truth.  But  Embury  was  before  him 
in  the  work ;  and  him  the  Captain  greatly  as- 
sisted while  in  New  York  on  a  visit,  and 
afterwards  when  he  became  a  resident  of  Ja- 
maica, L.  I.  By  their  mutual  labors,  Metho- 
dism was  planted  in  New  York.  In  1768,  it 
sent  out  its  utterances  from  its  first  Ameri- 
can chapel  on  Golden  Hill,  in  John  Street. 

Still  another  instrument  for  its  propaga- 
tion rose  up  in  Maryland,  in  the  person  of 
ROBERT  STRAWBRIDGE,  also  a  local  preacher 
from  Ireland.  He  brought  a  warm  heart  over 
the  Atlantic,  and,  like  a  faithful  man,  began 
preaching  in  his  own  house,  as  soon  as  he 
was  fairly  settled.  His  success  was  such  that 
a  society  was  formed,  and  a  log  chapel  built, 
about  as  early  as  the  chapel  in  New  York. 


172      EISE   AND    GROWTH    OP   METHODISM. 

Thus  you  see  how  God  cared  for  Metho- 
dism in  America,  by  directing  these  local 
preachers  to  three  different  points,  and  by 
guiding  the  steps  of  a  pious  matron  to  the 
doors  of  the  slumbering  Philip.  Was  ever 
event  more  signally  marked  by  the  finger 
of  God  ? 

I  cannot  detain  you  to  watch  the  growth 
of  this  "  mustard  seed,"  as  it  grew  into  the 
great  tree  which  it  has  since  become.  It  is 
enough  to  state,  that  in  the  brief  period  of 
little  more  than  a  century  from  its  original 
planting,  it  has  become  the  largest,  fairest, 
stateliest  of  ecclesiastical  trees ;  its  branches 
overspread  the  earth,  its  fruit  imparts  life  to 
over  two  millions  of  communicants,  and  its 
doctrines  are  preached  to  probably  not  less 
than  ten  millions  of  the  human  race ! 

Nowhere  has  Methodism  spread  more  rap- 
idly than  in  this  country.  From  its  first 
enunciation  by  Philip  Embury  until  now,  its 
advance — in  spite  of  fierce  opposition,  un- 
principled misrepresentation,  and  bitter  per- 


RISE   AND    GROWTH    OP   METHODISM.      173 

secution  —  has  been  firm,  rapid,  wonderful. 
You  know,  perhaps,  that  attempts  are  being 
made  to  prove  that  Methodism  has  reached 
its  climax,  and  is  now  "  dying  out."  I  do 
not  suppose  that  those  who  are  engaged  in 
this  hopeless  task  really  believe  their  own 
assertions.  They  cannot,  certainly,  if  they 
understand  whereof  they  write.  This,  they 
are  not  careful  to  do.  It  does  not  suit  their 
purpose  to  deal  in  well  authenticated  and 
fairly  presented  facts.  Their  aim  is  not  to 
tell  the  truth,  but  to  retard  the  progress  of 
Methodism,  which  they  most  religiously  hate. 
Their  tactics  are  those  of  politicians.  By 
daring  and  reckless  assertions,  which  they 
know  the  mass  of  their  readers  will  not  be 
at  the  pains  to  investigate,  they  endeavor  to 
create  an  impression  that  proofs  of  prema- 
ture decay  are  already  manifest  in  our  body. 
These  assertions  are  sustained  by  a  specious 
arrangement  of  statistics,  which,  being  echoed 
and  re-echoed  by  their  partizans,  over  the 
country,  are  expected  to  work  injury  to  us 
wnerever  they  are  repeated. 


174      RISE   AND    GROWTH   OP   METHODISM. 

Against  these  statements,  I  wish  to  put 
you  on  your  guard.  They  are  false,  utterly, 
absolutely  false.  Methodism  is  not  declin- 
ing. Its  numbers  were  never  so  great  as 
now.  Its  ratio  to  the  whole  population  was 
never  so  large  as  at  present.  Those  who 
seek  to  produce  a  show  of  proof  to  the  con- 
trary, do  so  by  selecting  the  years  1842  and 
1843  as  the  starting  points  of  their  calcula- 
tion—  the  only  years  in  our  history  from 
which  any  appearance  of  numerical  declen- 
sion can  be  made  out.  I  protest  against  this 
arbitrary  selection  of  a  starting  point,  be- 
cause it  contains  the  maximum  numbers  of  a 
decade,  just  as  I  would  protest  against  a 
friend  of  Methodism,  if  he  were  to  select  a 
year  in  which  our  numbers  had  reached  the 
minimum  of  any  given  period  as  the  starting 
point  of  his  calculations.  The  fair  method 
of  computing  the  numerical  progress  of  any 
community,  society,  or  church,  is,  to  compare 
its  numbers  through  a  long  space  of  time, 
and  through  equal  and  specific  periods.  This 


RISE   AND    GEOWTH    OP   METHODISM.       175 

I  propose  to  do.  Not  that  I  am  anxious 
about  our  numbers ;  for  our  church  might  be 
standing  still  numerically  through  several 
years,  and  not  be  "  dying  out."  She  might 
be  increasing  in  her  hold  on  society,  in  in- 
ward culture,  in  inborn  strength,  and  in  fit- 
ness for  a  renewal  of  her  aggressive  efforts, 
and  the  extension  of  her  domains.  But  I 
wish  to  state  the  truth,  and  to  give  you  the 
means  of  rebutting  the  false  calculations  of 
our  adversaries. 

The  tables  given  below  cover  over  half  a 
century.  The  numbers  for  each  decade,  are 
for  the  year  immediately  following  that  on 
which  each  national  census  was  taken.* 
They  show  that  Methodism,  which  up  to 
1765  had  not  a  single  representative  in  the 
country,  which  was  not  ecclesiastically  organ- 


*  Increase  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  by  decade*,  from  1791  to  1854. 

Inl791,  Memb,  M.  E.  Ch..    63,269, 

An  increase  in  10  years  of 

1801,       '             " 
1811,       '             " 

72,874, 
184,567, 

9.605,  or    15$  per  ct. 
llf,693,  or  153J      " 

1821,       ' 

281,146, 

96,579,  or   52}      " 

1831         ' 

513,1)4, 

231,968,  or    82J      " 

1841,       '              " 

859,811, 

346,697,  or   67i      " 

1851,  (North  &  South,)  1,251,198, 

391,387,  or   45J      " 

1854,            " 

1,386,661, 

135,463  for  3  year*. 

176      RISE   AND    GROWTH   OF   METHODISM. 

ized  until  1784,  now  has  more  than  one  mil- 
lion three  hundred  thousand  communicants  ; 
that  during  the  last  half  century  the  ratio  of 
our  communicants  to  the  entire  population 
has  increased  from  one  in  sixty-two  and  a 
half  to  one  in  eighteen  and  a  half,  or  in- 
cluding the  various  branches  of  Methodism, 

The  next  table  shows  how  the  per  cenlage  of  our  increaso 
compares  with  that  of  the  entire  population  of  the  country. 


The  population  increased  from  1790  to  1800 

35.02  per  ct. 

Methodism, 

1791  to  1801 

15.20 

The  population, 
Methodism, 

1800  to  1810 
1801  to  1811 

36.45 
153.50 

The  population, 

1810  to  1820 

33.13 

Methodism, 

1811  to  1821 

52.33 

The  population, 

1820  to  1830 

33.49 

Methodism, 

1821  to  1831 

82.50 

The  population,             "              1830  to  1  840 

32.67 

Methodism,                                    1831  to  1841 

67.50      " 

The  population,             "              1840  to  1860 

35.87      " 

Methodism,                    "              1841  to  1851 

45.50      " 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  per  centage  of  our  increase  has  been 
decidedly  greater  than  that  of  the  aggregate  population  of  the 
country. 

A  comparison  of  our  numbers  with  the  whole  population,  will 
show  a  rapidly  increasing  ratio.  Thus,  beginning  with  1791, 
seven  years  after  the  organization  of  our  church,  we  have  the 
following  results : 

In  1791  one  Methodist  to  about  every  62J  of  the  whole  pop. 

1801  •  "  72i 

1811  "  "  894 

1821  "  "  30 

1831  "  "  25 

1841  "  "  19J 

1851  "  "  18* 


RISE   AND   GROWTH   OP   METHODISM.      177 

(not  embraced  ia  these  tables,  but  numbering 
over  one  hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  com- 
municants,) our  ratio  has  advanced  from  one 
in  sixty-two  and  a  half  to  one  in  seventeen  — 
a  very  gratifying  increase  on  the  population 
of  the  country.  Is  not  this  a  wonderful  in- 
crease ?  Could  it  have  been  gained  if  the 
Lord  had  not  been  on  the  side  of  his  people  ? 
But  how  is  it  with  New  England?  Has 
Methodism  in  the  East  kept  pace  with  gen- 
eral Methodism  ?  We  should  hardly  expect 
it  to  do  so,  because  it  labors  under  peculiar 
difficulties,  and  against  peculiar  obstacles 
here.  It  has  suffered,  too,  for  the  last  fif- 
teen years,  a-  very  heavy  annual  loss  from 
emigration.  California,  Oregon,  and  the 
Western  States  generally,  contain  thousands 
of  persons,  who  were  formerly  members  of 
our  church  in  New  England.  Much  of  our  in- 
crease in  the  West  is  the  fruit  of  Eastern 
Methodism.  But  those  emigrants  are  lost  to 
us  in  New  England.  Their  removal,  in  many 
instances,  more  than  decimated  .whole  church- 
es, and  in  some  cases  left  societies  too  fee- 
12 


178      RISE   AND   GROWTH   OF   METHODISM. 

ble  for  self-maintenance.  It  would  not  be 
strange,  therefore,  if  our  numbers  did  show  a 
decrease  in  the  Eastern  Conferences.  What 
are  the  facts  ?  The  tables  given  below*  will 


#  The  following  tables  contain  the  numbers  in  the  New  Eng- 
land Conferences,  from  1796  to  1855,  a  period  of  59  years, 
together  with  the  average  annual  increase  during  each  period. 
Those  parts  of  New  England  embraced  in  -the  Troy  and  New 
York  East  Conferences  are  not  included  in  the  first  tables. 


1796 
1820 
1830 
1840 
1860 
1855 


Conferences. 
1 


Members. 

2,519 
17,739 
35,227 
64,997 
65,640 
70,474 


Average  annual  increase,     634 
?<  "  1,748 

"  "  2,977 

"  "  64 

»  »  966 


Let  us  next  see  what  is  our  per  centage  of  increase  compared 
with  the  population  of  New  England,  through  a  period  of  fifty- 
four  years. 

In  N.  E.  the  pop.  increased  from  1800  to  1810  19.34  per  ct. 

Methodism                   "                     "            "  92 

New  England               «                   1810  to  1820  12.77 

Methodism                    '                     "  58 

New  England               '                   1820  to  1830  17.77 

Methodism                    '                     "            "  98.50 

New  England               '                   1830  to  1840  14.33 

Methodism                    '                     "            "  85 

New  England               '                   1840  to  1850  22.07 

Methodism                   "                     "            "  .99 


Methodism 


1850  to  1855 


7.36 


The  next  table  shows  the  ratio  of  our  increase  in  New  Eng- 
land, compared  with  that  of  the  population. 
In  1800  there  was  1  Methodist  in  every  211  of  the  pop.  of  N.  E. 


1S10 
1820 
1830 
1840 
1850 
1866 


131 
94 
56 
34 
41 
38 


RISE   AND   GROWTH   OP   METHODISM.      179 

show  you  that  our  rate  of  increase  in  New 
England,  was  highest  between  1820  and  1840, 
and  lowest  between  1840  and  1850.  But 
during  no  decade  has  Methodism  ceased  to 
advance!  The  ratio  of  our  progress  fell 
immensely  between  1840  and  1850.  But 
were  there  not  various  causes  tending  to  that 
result?  1.  There  was  the  great  drain  by 
emigration  spoken  of  above.  2.  The  divis- 
ion of  the  church  occurred  in  that  decade, 
and  the  discussion  growing  out  of  it  was  not 
without  its  result  on  the  spirituality  and  ac- 
tivity of  our  people,  even  in  New  England. 
3.  The  agitation  and  the  consequent  losses 
by  secession  growing  out  of  the  organization 
of  the  "  Wesley  an  Church,"  belong  to  the 
same  period.  4.  The  Millerite  excitement, 
with  the  subsequent  spiritual  deadness  which 
overspread  the  churches  generally,  occurred 
in  the  same  decade.  5.  The  fluctuations 
which  were  experienced  in  various  branches 
of  manufacture  throughout  New  England  must 
also  be  taken  into  account.  Our  people  be- 


180      RISE  AND   GROWTH   OF   METHODISM. 

ing  largely  composed  of  mechanics  and  per- 
sons dependent  on  their  labor,  are  materially 
affected  in  their  location,  and  frequently 
driven  to  emigrate  to  other  parts  of  the 
country,  by  every  adverse  change  which  oc- 
curs in  manufacturing  towns.  6.  Our  people 
have  been  largely  engaged  in  erecting  and 
rebuilding  church  edifices,  and  otherwise 
strengthening  and  consolidating  themselves 
in  all  parts  of  the  Eastern  States,  and  were 
never  in  so  good  a  position,  socially  and  eco- 
nomically, as  now. 

Thus  it  appears  that  there  are  causes  suffi- 
cient to  account  for  that  retardation  in  our 
rate  of  progress,  which  marks  the  decade  pre- 
c«ding  I860,  without  resorting  to  the  suppo- 
sition that  our  vitality  is  declining.  Many 
of  the  evil  influences  of  that  decade  have 
passed  away.  It  is  true,  emigration  still 
drains  our  societies;  but,  notwithstanding 
this,  our  rate  of  progress  has  greatly  im- 
proved since  1850.  Should  it  be  maintained 
to  the  close  of  the  current  decade,  we  shall 


RISE  AND   GROWTH   OP   METHODISM.        181 

have  in  1860,  a  membership  in  New  England 
of  80,220.  As  it  is,  our  tables  show,  1.  That 
in  fifty-eight  years  we  have  increased  from 
2,519  members  to  70,474.  2.  That  there  has 
been  no  decade  in  which  we  have  failed  to 
make  some  advance.  3.  That  ourjjer  cent- 
age  of  increase  has  largely  exceeded  the  per 
centage  of  increase  in  the  population,  during 
every  decade,  with  a  single  exception  —  i.  e., 
1840-50.  4.  That  fifty-five  years  ago  there 
was  one  Methodist  in  New  England  to  every 
two  hundred  and  eleven  of  the  population. 
Last  year,  there  was  one  to  every  THIRTY- 
EIGHT  !  or,  adding  the  more  than  20,000  mem- 
bers in  the  New  England  States  which  belong 
to  the  New  York  East  and  Troy  Confer- 
ences, there  was  in  1855  one  Methodist  to 
every  TWENTY-NINE  of  the  population  in  New 
England. 

In  the  following  note  I  have  given  the  statis- 
tics of  New  England  Methodism  in  compari- 
son with  those  of  the  Baptists  and  Congrega- 
tionalists,  (Orthodox,)  on  the  same  ground. 


182      RISE   AND   GROWTH   OP   METHODISM. 

You  will  learn  from  them,  what  I  know  will 
gratify  you,  —  that  Methodism  in  New  Eng- 
land is  second  in  numbers  and  FIRST  IN  PRO- 
GRESS !  The  Baptists  are  third  in  numbers 
and  second  in  progress.  The  Congregation- 
alists  are  first  in  numbers  and  third  in  pro- 
gress.* 


*  The  first  table  shows  the  increase  of  the  Congregational 
(Orthodox)  Churches  in  New  England,  from  1841  to  1866,  a  pe- 
riod of  fourteen  years. 

Aisoc'ns.  1841.  1855.  Increase  in  14  years. 

Conn.,  35,688  38,083           2,395  or    6.71  per  cent. 

Mass.,  57,663  67,195            9,632  or  16.78      " 

N.  Hamp.,  17,581  20,022            2,441  or  13.88      " 

R.  Island,  2,577             2,717              140  or   6.43      " 

Maine,  17,338  16,937  (dec.)   401  or    2.31      "  (loss.) 

Vermont,  22,666  17,705  (dec.)  4,961  or  21.88      "  (loss.) 

Totals,        153,413          162,659  9,246  or    6.02  per  cent. 

The  following  table  gives  the  increase  of  the  Baptists  in 
New  England  from  1840  to  1854,  a  period  of  fourteen  years. 


1840.  1854.  Increase  in  14  yean. 

Conn.,  11,726  16,907            6,182  or  44.10  per  cent. 

Maine,  20,490  19,355  (dec.)  1,135  or    5.53      "  (loss.) 

Mass.,  26,311  31,854            5,543  or  21.06      " 

N.  Hamp.,  9,657  8,229  (dec.)  1,328  or  13.89      "  (loss.) 

R.  Island,  5,962  7,357            1,395  or  23.39      " 

Vermont,  11,101  7,851  (dec.)  3,250  or  29.27      "  (lots.) 

Totals,          86,146  91,653  6,407  or    7.52  per  cent. 

The  next  table  gives  the  progress  of  our  own  church,  in  New 
England,  from  1841  to  1855,  a  period  of  fourteen  years,  omitting 
the  20  to  23,000  members  belonging  to  the  New  York,  New 
York  East,  and  Troy  Conferences. 


RISE   AND    GROWTH    OF   METHODISM.       183 

This  result  affords  matter  of  gratitude  to 
Almighty  God.  That  in  some  sixty  years  we 
should  have  gained  a  membership  considera- 
bly more  than  half  as  large  as  the  Congrega- 
tionalists,  who  for  more  than  a  century  had 
almost  undisputed  possession  of  the  territory, 


Vt         7844       19'006  ^*c^     429  Or    2'20  "  (fo"') 
F  M   VlSt   \  20'270  <*«•>  2'574  or  U'26  "  <**•> 


Conf«.       1841.  1855.  Incrwwe  in  14  jean. 

N.  E.,  12,082  ^  16,152  4,070  or  32.85  per  ct 
N.  H.,  19,485 

Me.,  22,844 

Prov.,  10,664  '  '  15,046  4,382  or  41.09 " 

Totals,  65,026  70,474  6,4-19  or    8.37  per  ct 

To  make  the  results  of  these  tables  more  apparent,  I  will  reca- 
pitulate them  as  follows :  — 

Cong's  from  1841  to  1855, 14  yrs,  gained  9,246  or  6.02  per  cent 
Bapt's  "  1840  to  1854,  14  "  6,407  or  7.52  " 

Meth's     "      1841  to  1856, 14        "  6,449  or  8.37        " 

•  The  succeeding  table  gives  the  ratio  of  increase  in  each  de- 
nomination since  1840,  compared  with  the  population  of  the  New 
England  States. 

In  1841  there  was  one  Congregationalist  in  every  14  of  the  pop. 
1865  "  "         16        " 

1840  "  Baptist  "         26        " 
1855               "               *                             "         29        " 

1841  "  Methodist  "         84        " 
1855               "               "                             "         38        " 

Including  the  22,000  members  —  our  estimated  numbers  in 
those  parts  of  Connecticut,  Western  Massachusetts,  and  Ver- 
mont, embraced  in  the  New  York,  New  York  East,  and  Troy 
Conferences  —  we  get  the  following  ratios  for  Methodism :  — 

In  1841,  one  Methodist  in  every  25  of  the  population. 
1S66,  one  Methodist  in  every  29  of  the  population. 


184      RISE    AND    GROWTH    OP   METHODISM. 

and  who,  when  we  came  here,  enjoyed  the 
prestige  of  wealth,  social  status,  and  culture, 
is  an  astonishing  fact,  demanding  our  warm- 
est thankfulness,  and  encouraging  our  most 
sanguine  hopes.  Our  advance  in  the  race  of 
progress  beyond  our  Baptist  brethren  is 
equally  gratifying.  They  started  a  century 
and  a  half  before  we  entered  New  England. 
They  had  a  membership  of  some  20,000  mem- 
bers when  Jesse  Lee  appeared  in  the  arena. 
Since  then  they  have  increased  nearly  five 
fold,  yet  Methodism  has  outstripped  them, 
both  in  numbers  and  rate  of  progress. 

With  these  illustrations  of  the  rapid 
growth  of  our  church,  you  cannot  fail  to  be 
impressed  with  the  idea  that  Methodism  has 
been  signally  favored  of  God.  Remember,  it 
is  not  a  church  which  either  tolerates  form- 
ality, or  permits  immoralities  in  its  members  ; 
but  a  church  teaching  men  to  deny  themselves, 
to  forsake  all  sin,  to  attain  personal  holiness, 
and  enforcing  this  teaching  with  a  stricter 
discipline  than  any  other  branch  of  the 


RISE    AND    GROWTH    OF   METHODISM.       185 

church.  How,  then,  can  you  account  for  its 
growth  except  on  the  admission  that  God  is 
in  it;  that  Jesus  smiles  upon  it;  that  the 
Spirit  pours  his  constant  benediction  upon  it  ? 
Believing  this,  you  need  not  hesitate  to  enter 
its  fellowship,  for  in  Methodism,  as  "  in 
Judah,  God  is  known ;  his  name  is  great  in 
Israel.  In  Salem,  also,  is  his  tabernacle,  and 
his  dwelling-place  in  Zion." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SPIRITUAL    RESULTS    OF    METHODISM. 

0  understand   the    spiritual  re- 
suits   of    Methodism,   my   dear 
*  reader,  you   must   first    glance 


at    the   religious   condition  of 
England  and  America,  at  the  epoch 
of  its  rise. 

What  was  the  spiritual  state  of 
England  prior  to  the  appearance  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  evangelists?  I  do  not  exaggerate 
when  I  say  that  it  was  in  the  lowest  possible 
condition  of  religious  torpor  and  indifference. 
The  shadow  of  an  almost  starless  night 
spread  over  the  land.  The  clergy  of  the  Es- 
tablished Church  were  mostly  unconverted 
men,  teachers  of  a  Pelagian  theology,  and 
sadly  lacking  in  that  high  purity  of  life  which 
is  so  essential  to  ministerial  influence.  The 


SPIRITUAL   RESULTS    OF   METHODISM.       187 

Presbyterian  clergy  were  mostly  floating 
in  the  putrid  sea  of  a  self-indulgent  Antinomi- 
anism,  or  gliding  in  luxuriant  ease  down  the 
smooth  waters  of  a  self-complacent  Socinian- 
ism.  The  dissenting  clergy,  generally  were 
lethargic,  formal,  dead.  DODDRIDGE,  WATTS, 
and  a  few  others,  were  bright  exceptions ;  but 
their  influence  was  limited  to  narrow  circles ; 
their  light  scarcely  relieved  the  general  gloom. 

As  it  was  with  the  clergy,  so  it  was  with 
their  flocks.  The  churches  seemed  under  the 
power  of  a  Lethean  draught.  They  mostly 
slept,  as  if  oblivious  of  the  calls  of  duty,  the 
warnings  of  retribution,  and  the  woes  of 
humanity. 

As  a  consequence,  irreligion  stalked  over 
the  land  with  a  haughty,  philosophic  skepti- 
cism at  her  right  hand ;  a  coarse,  blustering 
infidelity  at  her  left;  and  a  host  of  blear-eyed 
immoralities  in  her  train.  The  nobles,  the 
statesmen,  the  literary  men  of  England,  did 
not  scruple  to  deride  evangelical  religion 
with  their  lips,  and  to  insult  its  moralities  in 


188      SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OF    METHODISM. 

their  practice.  "  There  was  no  thinking  at 
that  time,"  says  Isaac  Taylor,  "  which  was 
not  atheistical  in  its  tone  and  tendency." 
The  middle  classes  were  immersed  in  the  sea 
of  avarice ;  the  lower  orders  were  abandoned 
to  the  grossest  vices.  "  The  moral  and  reli- 
gious defection  which  obtained,"  says  DR. 
MORRISON,  "  was  extraordinary  and  almost 
universal"  " The  higher  ranks  of  society," 
says  DR.  CORBETT,  "viewed  the  ordinances 
of  religion  with  indifference,  and  the  poorer 
classes  had  sunk  into  the  grossest  vices."  In 
Calvinistic  Scotland,  the  case  was  no  better. 
REV.  JAMES  ROBIE,  of  Kilsyth,  in  1740,  said: 
"  For  some  years  past  there  hath  been  a  sen- 
sible decay  as  to  the  life  and  power  of  godli- 
ness. Iniquity  abounded,  and  the  love  of 
many  waxed  cold.  Our  defection  from  the 
Lord,  and  backsliding,  increased  fast  to  a 
dreadful  apostacy.  While  the  government, 
worship  and  DOCTRINE,  established  in  this 
church  WERE  RETAINED  IN  PROFESSION,  THERE 

HATH     BEEN     AN     UNIVERSAL     CORRUPTION     OF 


SPIRITUAL  RESULTS   OF   METHODISM.      189 

LIFE,  reaching  even  unto  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  God." 

Was  the  spiritual  condition  of  America 
any  better  when  Whitefield,  glowing  with 
Methodistic  life,  visited  its  coasts ;  and  when, 
subsequently,  Philip  Embury  raised  the  ban- 
ner of  Methodism  in  New  York  ?  Let  Mr. 
Tracy,  the  historian  of  the  "  Great  Awaken- 
ing," answer.  Referring  to  the  period  of 
Whitefield's  labors,  he  says : 

"  The  doctrine  of  the  '  new  birth  '  as  an  as- 
certaiuable  change,  was  not  generally  preva- 
lent in  any  communion  when  the  revival  com- 
menced." 

"  The  difference  between  the  church  and 
the  world  was  vanishing  away.  Church  dis- 
cipline was  neglected,  and  the  growing  lax- 
ness  of  morals  was  invading  the  churches. 
And  yet  never,  perhaps,  had  the  expectation 
of  reaching  heaven  at  last,  been  more  gener- 
al, or  more  confident.  Occasional  revivals 
had  interrupted  this  downward  progress,  and 
the  preaching  of  sound  doctrine  had  retarded 


190      SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OP   METHODISM. 

it  in  many  places,  especially  in  Northampton ; 
but  even  there  it  had  gone  on,  and  the  hold 
of  truth  on  the  consciences  of  men  was  sadly 
diminished.  The  young  were  abandoning 
themselves  to  frivolity,  and  amusements  of 
dangerous  tendency,  and  party  spirit  was  pro- 
ducing its  natural  fruit  of  evil  on  the  old." 

Again  he  says  (in  1740) :  "  A  large  majori- 
ty in  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  many,  if 
not  most,  in  New  England,  held  that  the 
ministrations  of  unconverted  men  if  neither 
heretical  in  doctrine  nor  scandalous  for  im- 
morality, were  valid,  and  their  labors  useful." 

Of  the  churches  in  Rhode  Island,  in  1740, 
WHITEFIELD,  as  quoted  by  Tracy,  says :  "  ALL, 
I  fear,  place  the  kingdom  of  God  too  much  in 
meats  and  drinks,  and  have  an  ill  name 
abroad  for  running  of  goods." 

Again  he  says,  while  in  Boston,  "  I  am 
verily  persuaded  the  generality  of  preachers 
talk  of  an  unknown  and  unfelt  Christ ;  and 
the  reason  why  congregations  have  been  so 
dead,  is  because  they  have  had  DEAD  MEN 


SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OP   METHODISM.       191 

PREACHING  TO  THEM."  Again,  "  Boston  *  * 
has  the  form  kept  up  very  well,  but  has  lost 
much  of  the  power  of  religion.  I  have  not 
heard  of  any  remarkable  stir  in  it  for  these 
many  years." 

In  1743,  Rev.  Messrs.  Messenger  and  Ha- 
ven, of  Natick,  say :  "  For  a  long  time  past 
the  power  of  godliness  has  been  evident  but 
in  comparatively  few  instances." 

Rev.  John  Porter,  in  1743,  says  of  Bridge- 
water,  Massachusetts,  "  Experimental  religion 
and  the  power  of  godliness  seemed  to  have 
taken  their  flight  from  Bridgewater.  The 
greater  part  of  the  people  who  thought  of  re- 
ligion at  all,  rested  in  various  duties  short 
of  a  saving  closure  with  Christ." 

Rev.  N.  Leonard,  of  Plymouth,  Mass.,  writ- 
ing in  1744,  says:  "  It  pleased  God  to  cast 
my  lot  in  the  first  church  and  town  in  the 
country,  twenty  years  ago.  Religion  was 
then  (i.  e.  in  1724)  under  a  great  decay  ;  most 
people  seemed  to  be  taken  up  principally 
about  the  world  and  the  lusts  of  this  life, 


192      SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OF   METHODISM. 

though  there  appeared  some  serious  Chris- 
tians among  us  who  bewailed  the  growth  of 
impiety,  profaneness,  Sabbath  breaking,  gam- 
ing, tavern-haunting,  intemperance,  and  other 
evils,  which  threatened  to  bear  down  all  that 
is  good  and  sacred  before  them.  We  were 
sensible  of  an  awful  degeneracy.  *  *  Ini- 
quity prevailed,  and  we  were  in  danger  of 
losing  the  very  form  of  godliness." 

Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  of  Virginia,  writes  in 
1751 :  "  Religion  has  been,  and  in  most  parts 
of  the  colony  still  is,  in  a  very  low  state. 
*  *  Family  religion  is  a  rarity.  *  *  Vices 
of  various  kinds  are  triumphant,  and  even  a 
form  of  godliness  is  not  common." 

Rev.  Jonathan  Dickenson,  of  Elizabeth- 
town,  New  Jersey,  says :  "  Religion  was  in  a 
very  low  state,  professors  generally  dead  and 
lifeless,  and  the  body  of  our  people  careless, 
carnal  and  secure.  There  was  but  little  of 
the  power  of  godliness  appearing  among  us 
until  some  time  in  August,  1739,  when  there 
was  a  remarkable  revival  at  Newark." 


SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OP   METHODISM.      193 

Of  the  Presbyterians  throughout  the  land, 
in  1740,  Mr.  Tracy  says  they  admitted  "to 
the  full  communion  of  the  church,  persons 
who  gave  no  evidence  of  regeneration.  The 
doctrine  of  the  new  birth  ceased  to  be  re- 
garded in  the  administration  of  the  ordi- 
nances; *  *  as  a  natural  consequence,  it 
practically  slipped  from  the  minds  both  of 
preachers  and  hearers" 

Rev.  S.  Blair,  of  New  Londonderry,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1 744,  says :  "  People  were  very 
generally,  through  the  land,  careless  at 
heart,  and  stupidly  indifferent  about  the  great 
concerns  of  eternity.  There  was  very  little 
appearance  of  any  hearty  engagedness  in  re- 
ligion. *  *  It  was  sad  to  see  with  what  a 
careless  behavior  the  public  ordinances  were 
attended." 

The  eloquence  and  piety  of  Whitefield 
kindled  a  bright  light  in  this  hour  of  gloom ; 
but  being  fed  with  Calvinistic  theology  only, 
it  soon  lost  its  brilliancy.  The  bones  of  that 
apostolic  man  were  scarcely  deposited  in 
13 


194      SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OP   METHODISM. 

their  sepulchre  at  Newburyport,  before  anoth- 
er fearful  apostacy  spread  the  pall  of  death 
over  the  churches  of  America.*  So  that  at 
the  advent  of  American  Methodism,  the  mor- 
al and  spiritual  condition  of  this  country  was 
scarcely  better  than  that  of  the  Fatherland 
when  Wesley  arose. 

Thus,  in  both  lands,  Methodism  rose  like  a 
bright,  particular  star,  in  an  hour  of  deep 
and  fearful  gloom.  What  did  it  accomplish  ? 
In  general  terms,  it  may  be  replied  that  it 
was  the  instrument,  in  both  countries,  of  a 

*  "  With  all  the  accession  of  strength,"  says  Mr.  Tracy,  "  that 
religion  received  from  the  revival,  it  did  but  just  stand  the  shock, 
(of  the  revolution,)  and.  for  a  long  time,  many  of  the  pious  feared 
that  everything  holy  would  be  swept  away !!  Strengthened  by  so 
many  tens  of  thousands  of  converts,  and  by  the  deep  sense  of 
the  importance  of  religion  produced  in  other  tens  of  thousands, 
both  in  and  out  of  the  churches,  religion  survived,  in  time  ral- 
lied and  advanced,  and  is  marching  on  to  victory."  (Great 
Awakening,  p.  421. ) 

The  Puritan  Recorder,  of  August  31, 1854,  describing  the  state 
of  religion  at  the  epoch  of  the  revolution,  confirms  Mr.  Tracy. 
It  says :  "  It  is  well  known  how  disastrous  to  religion  were  the 
influences  attending  that  war,  and  what  wide  spread  religious  de- 
ckntion  followed.'1 ' 


SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OP   METHODISM.      195 

revival  of  spiritual  religion,  which  for  depth, 
intensity,  extent,  permanency,  duration,  and 
humanitarian  influences,  has  no  parallel  in  the 
history  of  the  Christian  Church  since  the 
apostolic  age.*  Its  results  are  not  to  be  es- 
timated by  the  numerical  strength  of  the 
Methodistic  body.  "Wonderful  as  is  the  crea- 
tion of  such  a  body  of  spiritual  people  in  so 
brief  a  period,  its  results  outside  of  its  own 
membership  are  yet  more  vast  and  astonish- 
ing. Did  it  not  break  up  the  formalism  of 
existing  churches,  and  impregnate  them  anew 
with  that  divine  life  which  not  only  saved 
them  from  extinction,  but  which  also  started 
them  on  a  career  of  progress  that  continues 
to  the  present  hour  ?  Did  it  not  stop  the 
march  of  infidelity,  and  thereby  save  England 
from  the  revolutionary  vortex  which  swal- 

*  Methodism  gained  more  members  to  its  own  communion  in 
its  first  century,  than  the  apostolic  church  during  its  first  cen- 
tury. At  the  end  of  ibejirtt  century  of  the  Christian  Era,  there 
were  600,000  Christians ;  at  the  end  of  its  first  century,  Metho- 
dism had  1,423,000  communicant — a  number  nearly  three 
times  greater. 


196      SPIRITUAL    RESULTS    OF   METHODISM. 

lowed  so  much  of  the  blood  of  France  ?  Did 
it  not  awaken  that  spirit  of  evangelical  ac- 
tivity, which  led  to  the  conception  and  inau- 
guration of  the  missionary  and  other  ideas, 
now  embodied  in  our  various  benevolent 
organizations  ?  Did  it  not  do  much  toward 
determining  the  religious  condition  of  these 
United  States  ?  I  do  not  claim  that  it  did 
all  these  things  directly]  but  I  do  claim  that 
they  have  all  grown  out  of  the  life  to  which 
it  gave  birth.  They  cannot  be  traced  to  any 
other  cause.  We  can  find  their  germ  no- 
where else  but  in  the  Methodistic  revival: 
but  for  which  one  trembles  to  think  what 
fearful  moral  desolation  would  have  over- 
spread the  earth.  That  you  may  see  how 
this  view  is  supported  by  large  minded  men 
of  other  denominations,  I  will  insert  a  few 
extracts  from  various  sources  below.* 

*  DR.  MORRISON  says:  "  The  church  of  England  received  a 
mighty  and  hallowed  impulse  from  the  organization  of  Metho 
dism.  #  #  *  In  referring  to  the  influence  of  Methodism  upon 
Dissent,  it  will  be  frankly  conceded,  by  all  competent  judges  of 
passing  events,  that  it  has  told  with  prodigious  effect  upon  its 


SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OF  METHODISM.      197 

Nor  has  the  spiritual  life  of  Methodism 
yet  begun  to  show  symptoms  of  decay.  Hav- 
ing lifted  other  sects  up  towards  its  own 

internal  organization,  and  upon  all  its  movements  for  the  good 
of  mankind.  *  *  Methodism  did  much  to  bring  on  the  great 
missionary  crisis  of  the  church.  *  *  It  was  the  glory  of  Metho- 
dism that  it  siezed  with  a  giant  grasp  this  great  principle  of  the 
apostolic  ministry." — Dr.  Morrison's  Fathers  and  Founders  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society. 

REV.  RICHARD  CECIL  says:  "  They  (the  Methodists)  have  la- 
bored and  not  fainted  in  planting  the  gospel  amongst  the  poor, 
and  that  with  the  most  surprising  success,  even  in  the  most  dark 
and  profligate  places.  *  *  Multitudes  of  genuine  Christians 
could  at^st  that  under  whatever  denomination  they  now  pro- 
ceed, they  owe  their  first  serious  impressions  to  the  labors  of 
these  men."  —  Cecifs  Memoirs  of  Cadogan. 

DR.  CHALMERS  says:  "  Methodism  is  Christianity  in  earnest." 

ROBERT  HALL  says:  Whitefield  and  Wesley  "will  be  hailed 
by  posterity  as  the  Second  Reformers  of  England." 

SIR  PETER  LAURIE,  a  British  magistrate,  in  a  speech,  said: 
"  I  would  much  rather  see  a  Methodist  chapel  than  a  station 
house.  I  would  that  all  the  country  might  embrace  your  senti- 
ments and  emulate  your  moral  character;  for  then,  indeed,  no 
police  would  be  heard  of." 

Similar  testimonies  abound  with  respect  to  American  Metho- 
dism. I  will  quote  a  few. 

The  following  paragraph  is  from  the  pen  of  DR.  BAIRD,  a  gen- 
tleman whose  extensive  travel,  and  close  and  long  continued 
observation  on  the  various  religious  systems  of  the  country,  en- 


198      SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OF   METHODISM. 

standard,  its  superior  vitality  may  not  be  so 
apparent  as  when  they  were  shrouded  in 
formality;  yet  it  is  as  real  and  robust  as 


title  his  opinion  to  the  very  highest  respect.  He  says :  "  No 
American  Christian,  who  takes  a  comprehensive  view  of  the 
progress  of  religion  in  his  country,  and  considers  how  wonder 
fully  the  means  and  instrumentalities  employed  are  adapted  to 
the  extent  and  wants  of  that  community,  can  hesitate  for  a  mo- 
ment to  bless  God  for  having,  in  his  mercy,  provided  them  all. 
Nor  will  he  fail  to  recognize,  in  the  Methodist  economy,  as  well  as 
in  the  zeal,  the  devoted  piety,  and  the  efficiency  of  its  ministry, 
one  of  the  most  powerful  elements  in  the  religious  prosperity  of  the 
United  Slates,  as  well  as  one  of  the  firmest  pillars  of  their  civil 
and  political  institutions." — Religion  in  America,  p.  249. 

REV.  DR.  TYNG,  in  an  address  in  London,  before  the  Wes- 
leyan  Missionary  Society,  in  1842,  said:  "I  come  from  a  land 
where  we  might  as  well  forget  the  proud  oaks  that  tower  in  our 
forests,  the  glorious  capitol  we  have  erected  in  the  centre  of  our 
hills,  or  the  principles  of  truth  and  liberty  which  we  are  endeav- 
oring to  disseminate,  as  forget  the  influence  of  Wesleyan  Metho- 
dism, and  the  benefits  we  liave  received  thereby.  #  *  The  Wes- 
leyan body  in  our  country  is  what  the  Wesleyan  body  is 
throughout  the  world.  *  *  Standing,  I  was  going  to  say,  man- 
fully, —  but  I  check  the  spirit,  and  say  humbly,  —  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus,  laboring  for  him,  and  accounting  it  its  highest  honor  if  it 
may  but  bear  the  cross,  while  he,  in  all  his  glory,  should  be  per- 
mitted to  wear  the  crown." 

The  next  extract  is  from  a  writer  in  the  Presbyterian  Chris- 
tian Herald,  quoted  in  Clark's  Memoir  of  Bishop  Hedding:  "No 


SPIRITUAL    RESULTS   OF    METHODISM.       199 

ever.  A  recent  writer  in  the  North  British 
Review,  whose  objections  to  some  features 
of  the  Wesleyan  system  prove  him  to  be  not 
of  it,  says :  "  We  believe  that  the  Wesleyan 
body  contains  by  far  the  largest  per  centage 
of  true  religion  and  moral  life  of  any  sect 
in  England."  And  you  know,  my  dear  con- 
vert, that,  in  this  country,  there  is  no  room 
to  doubt  that  the  spiritual  activity  of  Metho- 
dism is  vastly  greater  and  less  vacillating 
than  that  of  any  other  sect.  A  Congrega- 
tional clergyman  of  Massachusetts,  naively 
confessed  this  fact  recently  in  a  conversation 
with  a  Methodist  preacher.  He  said :  "  We  " 
(the  Congregationalists)  "always  look  to 
the  Methodists  to  lead  in  a  revival.  I  ad- 


pioneer  gets  beyond  the  reach  of  Methodist  itinerants.  Though 
he  pass  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  pursue  his  game  to  the  Pa- 
cific, he  soon  finds  the  self-denying,  unconquerable,  unescape- 
able  Methodist  minister  at  his  side,  summoning  him  to  the  camp- 
meeting,  and  winning  his  soul  to  Christ!  Thousands  upon 
thousands  of  pioneers,  scattered  like  sheep  and  almost  lost  from 
the  world,  in  those  far-off  wilds  of  the  West,  have  blessed  God 
for  raising  up  Wesley  and  the  Methodists." 


200      SPIRITUAL   RESULTS    OF   METHODISM. 

vised  the  pastor  of  a  Congregational  church 
in  a  town  where  the  church  was  large  and 
wealthy,  but  had  not  enjoyed  a  revival  within 
the  memory  of  its  oldest  member,  to  secure, 
if  he  could,  the  organization  of  a  Methodist 
church  there,  because  such  a  church  would 
certainly  exert  a  most  beneficial  influence  on 
the  general  spiritual  interests  of  the  town; 
and  particularly  on  the  spiritual  life  and  vig- 
or of  that  Congregational  church."  If  every 
preacher  of  Calvinistic  theology  was  as  frank 
as  this  good  brother,  such  confessions  would 
be  general.  Thank  God,  Methodism  re- 
tains the  life  G-od  gave  it  when  he  con- 
verted the  Wesleys ;  and  if  the  culture  of 
your  spiritual  life  is  the  great  object  you 
seek  in  forming  a  church  relation,  you  will 
regard  it  as  the  first  of  privileges  to  be 
permitted  to  enter  its  fellowship. 

But  the  enemies  of  our  church  seek  to 
divert  attention  from  these  wonderful  and 
glorious  facts,  by  pretending  that  in  build- 
ing up  itself,  Methodism  inflicts  injury  on 


SPIRITUAL   BESULTS   OP   METHODISM.      201 

society.  It  brings,  they  assert,  vast  num- 
bers of  persons  under  the  influence  of  re- 
ligious excitement,  and  induces  them  to 
make  spurious  professions  of  conversion. 
One  unscrupulous  writer  has  said  that  of  the 
number  professing  conversion  at  Methodist 
meetings,  "nine-tenths  of  the  whole  are 
found  to  be  spurious,  after  a  longer  or 
shorter  trial ! "  Strange  assertion !  It  car- 
ries its  own  contradiction  on  its  brazen 
brow.  It  is  even  absurdly  false.  To  be 
true,  no  less  than  twelve  millions  and  a 
half  of  persons,  or  two-thirds  of  the  adult 
population  of  the  country,  must  have  pro- 
fessed conversion  in  Methodist  churches,  for 
they  contain  about  a  million  and  a  quarter  of 
communicants  within  their  pale!  A  state- 
ment resulting  in  a  consequence  so  mani- 
festly impossible  cannot  be  true.  It  is  un- 
worthy the  serious  attention  of  a  sane  man.* 

*  For  a  full  and  conclusive  reply  to  the  pretended  facts  by 
•which  this  silly  assertion  of  Parsons  Cooke  was  supported,  see 
my  pamphlet  entitled  "  A  Defence  of  Methodism,"  &c. 


202      SPIRITUAL   RESULTS   OP   METHODISM. 

But  I  need  not  lead  you  through  the  fog 
with  which  its  enemies  seek  to  obscure  the 
glory  of  Methodism.  You  will  not  be  de- 
ceived nor  turned  aside  from  it,  I  feel  as- 
sured. You  cannot  fail  to  see  that  God  is 
with  it.  His  grace  is  its  garment.  His  arm 
its  power.  His  strength  its  protection.  His 
love  the  pledge  of  its  perpetuity.  His  ap- 
proval the  diadem  of  beauty  which  crowns  its 
brow.  Go,  then,  beloved;  go,  kneel  at  its 
altar ;  enter  its  fellowship ;  drink  deep  of  its 
spirit ;  emulate  the  zeal  and  purity  of  its  mas- 
ter spirits ;  and  thereby  learn  the  truth  of  the 
dying  words  of  its  great  founder  —  the  best 
of  all  is,  God  is  with  us. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

|  ID  you,  my  reader,  ever  visit  the 
Hartz  Mountain,  in  Germany? 
If  so,  you  heard  at  least  of  the 
celebrated  spectre  which  haunts 
its  summit.  Perhaps  you  saw  it, — 
colossal  figure  crowning  the  summit 
of  the  Brocken,  bending  and  moving, 
as  if  in  imitation  of  your  own  gestures.  If 
you  stretched  out  your  arms,  the  spectre  did 
the  same.  If  you  bowed,  the  spectre  re- 
turned the  compliment ;  and  you  were  thrilled 
with  astonishment  at  the  phenomenon.  Yet 
you  were  not  alarmed.  Your  scientific 
knowledge  taught  you  that  the  gigantic  image 
before  you  was  merely  the  shadow  of  your- 
self, projected  on  dense  vapors  or  fleecy 
clouds,  which  had  the  power  to  reflect  light 
freely.  Yet  such  was  the  impression  it  made 
14 


204   METHODIST  CHUECH  GOVERNMENT. 

upon  your  mind,  that  you  were  not  surprised 
at  the  marvellous  stories  to  which  it  had  giv- 
en rise  among  the  peasantry  of  the  adjacent 
region.  You  could  readily  understand  how 
superstitious  ignorance  could  invest  that 
spectre  with  the  terror  with  which  the  imagi- 
nation delights  to  clothe  supernatural  beings. 
Now  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  adversa- 
ries of  Methodism,  whenever  they  turn  their 
eyes  toward  its  government,,  affect  to  see  a 
spectre  resting  upon  its  dome.  They  take 
strange  delight  in  harping  upon  what  they 
are  pleased  to  call  its  despotism.  Mr. 
Graves,  whose  malice  floats  like  scum  upon 
every  page  of  his  book,  calls  its  government 
a  "  naked  clerical  despotism."  Mr.  Cooke, 
whose  views  of  our  system  are  founded  on 
the  most  superficial  knowledge  of  its  princi- 
ples, says,  the  "  theory  of  our  church  assumes 
that  God  has  given  all  church  power  to  one 
or  more  bishops,  to  reign  absolute  over  the 
whole  body  of  associated  Christians  in  a  na- 
tion !!  "  Others  take  up  the  same  cry,  and 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   205 

thus,  from  Maine  to  California,  our  adversa- 
ries assail  us  with  this  charge  of  despotism 
for  their  battle-cry.  We  think  it  possible 
some  of  them  may  be  ignorant  enough  of 
Methodism  to  believe  their  own  assertions. 
But  with  the  more  intelligent  of  our  foes, 
this  cry  is  raised  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
the  national  prejudice  against  a  church  whose 
rapid  growth  and  immense  resources  they 
both  fear  and  e.nvy.  The  numerical  superi- 
ority of  Methodism,  as  shown  by  the  facts  of 
the  last  census,  has  disturbed  them  exceed- 
ingly. Knowing  that  the  republican  idea  is 
justly  popular,  and  the  despotic  idea  justly 
hateful  with  the  American  public,  they  seek 
to  persuade  the  people  that  Methodism  is 
anti-republican  and  despotic  in  its  principles, 
spirit,  and  practice.  Could  they  succeed, 
they  would,  doubtless,  inflict  a  deadly  wound 
upon  it.  They  would  assuredly  retard  its 
progress. 

But  the  charge  is  false.     Methodism  is  not 
a  despotism,  any  more  than  the  spectre  of 


206        METHODIST    CHURCH    GOVERNMENT. 

the  Brocken  is  a  reality.  Like  that  figure, 
the  charge  is  proven  to  be  a  shadow  —  the 
reflection  of  the  thoughts  of  those  who  make 
it  —  having  no  substantial  existence.  True,  its 
ecclesiastical  forms  were  not  cast  in  a  repub- 
lican mould.  The  democratic  idea  is  not 
very  legibly  written  in  the  letter  of  its  disci- 
pline. A  superficial  observer,  gazing  on 
some  of  its  arrangements,  without  taking  into 
account  the  numerous  checks  which  are  every- 
where thrown  around  those  to  whom  it  con- 
veys power,  might  easily  misconceive  its  prin- 
ciples, and  misjudge  its  spirit  and  practical 
operations.  While,  to  those  who  write  in  the 
venomous  spirit  of  the  writers  referred  to 
above,  nothing  is  easier  than,  by  exaggerating 
some  features  of  the  system  and  suppressing 
others,  to  make  out  the  plausible  semblance 
of  a  strong  case. 

But  there  is  a  strong,  and  as  we  think,  un- 
answerable a  priori  argument  against  this 
charge,  in  the  fact  that  those  who  are  in  the 
M.  B.  Church  are  utterly  unconscious  of  the 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   207 

pressure  of  this  alleged  despotism.  No 
Methodist  feels  oppressed  by  it.  Methodist 
ministers  and  laymen  maintain  as  much  self- 
respect,  feel  as  free  in  spirit,  and  are  as  un- 
constrained in  their  action,  as  the  ministry 
and  laity  of  the  most  ultra  Congregationalist 
church  in  the  land.  No  despotic  arm  terrifies 
them.  No  irresponsible  authority  oppresses 
them.  No  arbitrary  inflictions  gall  them. 
How  is  this?  How  can  this  consciousness 
of  freedom  exist  and  flourish  unchecked,  if 
Methodism  is  such  a  system  of  despotism  as 
its  enemies  declare  it  to  be  ?  It  will  not  do 
to  say  that  our  people  are  not  sufficiently  in- 
telligent to  distinguish  between  liberty  and 
freedom;  for  we  hesitate  not  to  assert  that 
the  average  culture  of  our  people  is  equal  to 
that  of  any  other  large  denomination  in  the 
land.  How  is  it,  then  ?  There  is  but  one 
answer.  The  despotism  does  not  exist,  save 
in  the  disturbed  imaginations  of  our  enemies. 
What  is  despotism  ?  It  is  absolute  au- 
thority, irresponsible  to  constitutions,  laws, 


208   METHODIST  CHUECH  GOVERNMENT. 

or  tribunals.  But  Methodism  knows  no  such 
authority  as  this.  Every  man  —  minister  or 
layman  —  upon  whom  it  confers  power,  is 
controlled  by  rules,  and  held  responsible  to 
proper  tribunals  for  the  right  exercise  of  his 
authority.  Every  officer's  duties,  from  a  class 
leader  to  a  bishop,  are  specifically  defined ; 
and  the  greater  the  power  bestowed,  the 
more  strict  is  the  responsibility  which  is  ex- 
acted. Hence,  while  a  member  or  preacher 
can  be  expelled  for  specific  violations  of  the 
Discipline  only,  a  bishop  is  liable  to  expul- 
sion for  improper  conduct.  Should  a  bishop 
foolishly  undertake  to  enact  the  part  of  a 
tyrant,  should  he  wantonly  abuse  his  appoint- 
ing power  to  any  appreciable  extent,  the 
General  Conference  has  the  power,  as  it  cer- 
tainly would  have  the  motive  and  inclination, 
to  expel  him.  While  such  restraints  upon  its 
authorities  as  these  exist,  Methodism  cannot 
be  considered  a  despotism.  The  grand  fun- 
damental element  of  despotism  —  absolute, 
irresponsible  authority  —  is  not  found  in  the 
system. 


METHODIST    CHURCH   GOVERNMENT.        209 

Again  I  ask,  what  is  despotism  ?  It  is  ir- 
responsible authority  reposing  upon  force. 
The  appeal  of  the  despot  is  not  to  the  con- 
sent of  the  governed,  but  to  force.  His  au- 
thority is  built,  not  on  the  enlightened  affec- 
tion of  his  subjects,  but  on  the  bayonets  of 
his  warriors.  His  arguments  are  chains, 
prisons,  scaffolds.  To  talk  about  a  despot- 
ism without  force,  is  to  drivel,  not  reason. 
There  can  be  no  despotism  where  there  is  no 
power  to  coerce  obedience. 

Still  our  enemies  say  Methodism  is  a  "na- 
ked clerical  despotism,  that  its  "  bishops 
reign  absolute  over  the  whole  body."  Where 
then  is  its  coercive  power  ?  Where  its  means 
of  enforcing  obedience  ?  It  has  none,  abso- 
lutely none.  It  reposes  not  on  force,  but  on 
the  opinions  and  choice  of  its  members. 
This  is  its  corner-stone.  Robbed  of  this,  it 
would  dissolve  like  the  "  fabric  of  a  vision." 
So  entirely  does  it  rely  on  the  affectionate 
and  voluntary  support  of  the  people,  that  it 
formally  absolves  them  from  legal  obligation 
14 


210   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

to  render  it  that  pecuniary  aid  which  is  essen- 
tial to  its  operations.  If  the  allowances 
needful  for  the  support  of  its  ministry  are 
not  forthcoming,  "  the  church,"  says  the  Dis- 
cipline, p.  181,  "  shall  not  be  accountable  for 
the  deficiency,  as  in  a  case  of  debt."  Did  the 
world  ever  hear  of  a  despotism  throwing  it- 
self so  completely  on  the  affections  and  choice 
of  its  subjects  ?  Never.  How  then  can  Metho- 
dism be  despotism  ? 

But,  it  may  be  alleged,  Methodism  gives 
the  power  of  excommunicating  the  laity  to 
the  clergy,  and  this  ghostly  power  is  equivo- 
cal to  coercion  in  its  influence  over  the  mem- 
bership. Such  an  allegation  as  this  is  sheer 
nonsense.  To  an  enlightened  people,  excom- 
munication without  just  cause,  has  no  terror, 
because  it  cannot  affect  the  spiritual  rela- 
tions of  the  sufferer.  Such  excommunication 
in  this  country  is  at  most  but  an  annoyance, 
and  is  not  even  dreamed  of  among  Metho- 
dists as  a  motive  to  hold  them  to  its  commu- 
nion. 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   211 

But  even  this  power  is  not  lodged  abso- 
lutely in  the  ministry  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 
Before  excommunication  can  take  place,  a 
layman  must  be  formally  tried  and  condemned 
by  a  committee  of  laymen.  He  can  appeal 
from  a  wrong  verdict  to  a  Quarterly  Confer- 
ence, composed  chiefly  of  laymen.  He  can 
finally  procure  the  arrest  of  his  pastor  for 
mal-administration,  at  the  bar  of  the  Annual 
Conference.  Hence,  if  there  was  terror  in 
an  unjust  excommunication,  our  laity  are 
pretty  effectually  guarded  against  it.  The 
ministry  cannot  use  the  power  of  excommuni- 
cation as  a  means  of  coercing  the  submission 
of  the  people.  To  what,  then,  does  all  the 
power  actually  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the 
bishops  and  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
amount  ?  Restrained  on  every  side  by  checks 
and  accountability,  it  cannot  be  arbitrarily 
exercised  without  bringing  censure  or  deposi- 
tion upon  him  who  is  weak  or  wicked  enough 
to  abuse  it.  Reposing  upon  the  affections 
and  consent  of  the  people,  its  abuse  would' 


212   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

be  its  destruction.  How  then  can  Methodism 
be  a  despotism,  when  it  is  manifestly  lacking 
in  the  fundamental  elements  of  a  despotic 
power  ? 

A  third  element  of  despotism  is  centraliza- 
tion. A.  despotism  seeks  to  "concentrate 
the  whole  administration  of  the  government 
in  its  own  hands."  It  abhors  the  municipal 
idea.  It  frowns  upon  all  local  authority 
which  is  not  responsible  to  itself,  and  de- 
pendent upon  its  will.  For  example,  free 
municipalities  are  unknown  in  the  confessedly 
despotic  government  of  Russia.  Their  ex- 
istence is  little  better  than  nominal,  in  des- 
potically governed  France.  They  flourish 
only  in  such  countries  as  enjoy  a  limited 
monarchy,  like  England,  or  republican  insti- 
tutions, like  the  United  States.  But  despot- 
ism eschews  them.  It  loathes  all  local  au- 
thority which  is  not  dependent  on  itself. 
Centralization  is  its  law,  and  wherever  it 
exists  all  authority  proceeds  from  it,  is  re- 
sponsible to  it,  and  exists  only  by  its  permis- 
sion. 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   213 

But  is  Methodism  a  system  of  centraliza- 
tion ?  Does  it  hold  its  members  in  bands 
of  iron  responsibility  to  a  single  central 
power?  Does  any  supreme  authority  re- 
strain the  liberties  of  individual  societies, 
and  deprive  local  churches  of  their  proper 
freedom  ?  If  so,  where  is  that  central  pow- 
er ?  If,  as  our  enemies  say,  Methodism  is  a 
despotism,  let  that  overshadowing,  all-con- 
trolling authority  be  named  ?  It  cannot  be 
done. 

If  such  a  power  exist  at  all,  it  must  be 
found  either  in  the  Episcopacy  or  in  the 
General  Conference.  To  affirm  it  of  an  An- 
nual Conference,  would  be  to  talk  nonsense, 
because  an  Annual  Conference  is  geographi- 
cally limited  in  its  jurisdiction.  If  it  can  be 
found  anywhere,  it  must  be  in  the  Episco- 
pacy, or  in  the  General  Conference.  I  affirm 
that  it  is  not  in  either. 

1.  The  Episcopacy  is  not  such  a  power. 
As  a  body,  the  Episcopacy  has  no  power  at 
all.  It  is  not  recognized  in  Methodism  in  an 


214   METHODIST  CHUECH  GOVERNMENT. 

associate  capacity.*  If  our  seven  bishops 
were  to  meet  in  solemn  conclave,  their  de- 
cisions, opinions,  or  doings  would  possess 
no  more  authority  over  the  church  than  the 
decisions  of  any  other  seven  preachers,  of 
equal  character,  age,  and  talent,  in  the  con- 
nection. Whatever  power  they  possess  be- 
longs to  them  individually,  and  not  as  a  bench 
or  conclave. 

The  power  of  a  Methodist  bishop  is  great- 
ly overrated.  Viewed  through  the  spectacles 
of  our  adversaries,  the  Methodist  bishop  is  a 
despot  without  a  peer  this  side  the  Vatican. 
But  when  he  is  examined  in  the  light  of  the 
Methodist  Discipline,  he  becomes  a  simple 
preacher  of  the  gospel,  burdened  with  fearful 
responsibilities  and  onerous  labors,  but  so 
fettered  by  restraints  and  accountability  that 
he  cannot  enact  the  tyrant  to  any  appreciable 
extent,  without  feeling  the  sharp  axe  of  ec- 
clesiastical deposition  on  his  Episcopal  neck. 

*  In  the  M.  E.  Church  South,  I  believe  the  bench  of  bishops, 
as  such,  has  certain  powers.  But  they  are  clearly  denned  and 
limited  by  the  Discipline  of  the  Church. 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   215 

What  are  the  powers  of  a  Methodist 
bishop  ?  1.  He  has  the  power  of  ordination. 
2.  He  is,  ex  ojficio,  the  moderator  of  the  Gen- 
eral and  Annual  Conferences.  3.  He  decides 
all  questions  of  law  that  may  arise  in  an  An- 
nual Conference.  4.  He  can  confine  an 
Annual  Conference  to  its  legitimate  func- 
tions. 5.  He  can  change,  receive,  and  sus- 
pend preachers  during  the  interval  of  an 
Annual  Conference.  6.  He  stations  the 
preachers. 

Now  mark  the  limitations  of  these  powers. 
1.  Has  the  bishop  the  power  of  ordination? 
Granted.  But  the  Conferences  only  have  the 
power  to  elect  men  to  orders.  Without  their 
concurrence,  therefore,  a  bishop  cannot  or- 
dain a  single  candidate.  2.  Is  the  bishop,  ex 
ojficio,  moderator  in  the  Conferences?  He 
is.  But  he  has  neither  voice  nor  vote  in  the 
Conference  itself.  He  can  neither  make  a 
motion  nor  engage  in  debate.  3.  Does  he 
decide  questions  of  law  in  an  Annual  Confer- 
ence ?  He  does ;  but  the  application  of  his 


216   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

decision  is  with  the  Conference.  His  decis- 
ion, if  offensive  to  a  single  preacher,  may  be 
carried  by  appeal  to  the  General  Conference. 
In  the  General  Conference  he  has  no  right  to 
decide  any  question,  either  of  law  or  order, 
but  is  in  all  things  subject  to  the  decisions  of 
that  body.  4.  Can  he  confine  an  Annual 
Conference  to  its  legitimate  functions  ?  He 
can.  But  those  functions  are  specifically  de- 
fined ;  and  if  he  invades  the  rights  of  a  Con- 
ference, he  is  accountable  at  the  ensuing 
General  Conference.  5.  Can  he  change,  re- 
ceive and  suspend  preachers  in  the  interval 
of  a  Conference  ?  He  can.  But  he  must  be 
governed  by  the  necessity  of  the  case  in  his 
exercise  of  the  first  two  powers;  and  he 
cannot  suspend,  only  as  "  Discipline  may  re- 
quire ; "  that  is,  after  due  examination  and 
conviction  before  a  committee  of  preachers. 
6.  Has  he  power  to  station  preachers  ?  This, 
we  confess,  is  a  great  power,  but  it  involves 
such  a  fearful  amount  of  responsibility  to 
God,  that  its  possessor  must  needs  become  a 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   217 

very  bad  and  very  reckless  man,  before  he 
could  think  of  abusing  it.  But  a  bishop  is 
responsible  for  its  use  to  the  delegates  of  the 
very  men  over  whom  it  is  exercised ;  and  no 
bishop  could  abuse  it  to  any  serious  degree 
without  stirring  up  such  a  spirit  of  resist- 
ance as  would  result  in  great  restrictions  on 
the  appointing  power  itself.  The  General 
Conference  gave  the  stationing  power  to  the 
bishops,  and  should  they  ever  abuse  it,  it  will 
assuredly  take  it  from  them. 

Thus,  on  every  side,  the  power  of  a  bishop 
meets  with  limits  which  it  dare  not  pass 
without  self-destruction.  Nor  are  these  all 
the  restraints  which  surround  a  bishop.  He 
is  dependent  for  the  amount  of  his  salary 
on  the  decisions  of  a  committee  of  an 
Annual  Conference.  He  is  responsible  for 
his  private  and  official  conduct  to  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  which  may  expel  him  for 
improprieties  which  would  only  subject  a 
preacher  or  layman  to  censure.  He  has  no 
power  to  appoint  men  to  special  offices  in  the 


218   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

church,  such  as  editorships,  secretaryships, 
and  book  agencies.  No  layman,  no  minister, 
no  Conference,  is  judicially  responsible  to 
him.  He  cannot  hold  the  preacher  he  ap- 
points to  a  station  accountable  to  himself, 
but  must  leave  him  to  the  judgment  of  the 
brethren  composing  his  Conference. 

Now  I  submit  the  question  to  you,  dear 
convert,  in  all  candor,  can  this  Episcopacy,  so 
limited,  so  restrained,  so  utterly  deprived  of 
legislative  and  judicial  powers  be  such  a  cen- 
tralized power  as  is  necessary  to  constitute 
a  despotism  ?  Did  any  man  ever  dream  of 
despotism  existing  under  such  conditions? 
Nay.  Is  it  not  worse  than  absurd  to  say,  as 
our  Puritan  adversary  has  recently  said, 
Methodist  bishops  "  reign  absolute  over  the 
whole  body  ?  "  The  fact  is,  the  bishops  do 
not  reign  at  all.  They  serve.  Their  au- 
thority is  defined,  limited,  hemmed  in  on 
every  side.  They  are  not  despots,  and  they 
could  not  be  if  they  would. 

We  know  it  is  urged  by  our  enemies  that 


METHODIST    CHURCH    GOVEENMENT.       219 

the  bishops  break  down  all  these  barriers, 
and  hold  the  preachers  and  Conferences  sub- 
servient to  their  will,  through  the  influence 
they  derive  from  their  appointing  power.  If 
the  bishop  have  "  special  ends  of  his  own  to 
carry,"  says  a  bitter  foe  to  our  institutions, 
"  his  will  is  irresistible.  If  he  wishes  to  de- 
pose a  member,  he  could  if  he  would,  com- 
mand every  vote." 

This  is  mere  babble.  It  only  proves  how 
ignorant  its  writer  is,  both  of  Methodist 
bishops  and  Methodist  preachers.  Were  he 
acquainted  with  them,  he  would  know  that 
the  former  are  too  high  and  noble  minded  to 
use  their  power  for  personal  ends,  and  too 
shrewd  not  to  perceive  that  to  so  abuse  their 
stationing  power  would  be  the  sure  way  to 
lose  it.  That  Methodist  preachers  will  not 
take  the  "  ministerial  life "  of  one  of  their 
number  to  please  a  bishop,  the  history  of 
New  England  Methodism  most  abundantly 
proves.  They  have  too  much  self-respect  and 
personal  independence  to  submit  to  be 


220   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

coerced  into  that,  or  any  other  act,  by  the 
stationing  power.  They  would  despise  a 
bishop  who  should  attempt  to  play  the  tyrant; 
and,  if  they  saw  fit,  take  the  appointing 
power  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Episcopacy 
altogether,  and  give  it  to  a  committee  of  their 
own  election.  It  is,  therefore,  absolute  non- 
sense for  our  enemies  to  prate  about  the 
despotism  of  Methodist  .bishops.  They  have 
no  despotic  power  given  them  by  the  Disci- 
pline. They  cannot  arrogate  such  power  by 
abusing  the  prerogatives  of  their  office. 
Hence,  as  I  have  already  said,  they  do  not 
constitute  such  a  centralized  authority  as  is 
necessary  to  make  Methodism  a  "naked 
clerical  despotism." 

Is  the  General  Conference  such  a  central- 
ized authority  as  is  implied  in  a  despotism  ? 
I  think  not.  What  are  the  powers  of  the 
General  Conference?  1.  It  has  legislative 
authority  —  "  full  powers  to  make  rules  and 
regulations  for  our  church."  2.  It  has  a  cer- 
tain measure  of  judicial  authority  —  it  is  a 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   221 

high  court  of  appeals  from  the  judicial 
decisions  of  Annual  Conferences;  it  is  a 
court  for  the  trial  of  bishops;  it  confers 
judicial  powers  on  the  Annual  and  Quarterly 
Conferences,  and  on  the  societies  which  con- 
stitute the  church.  3.  It  possesses  executive 
authority.  It  can  elect  and  depose  the 
bishops.  It  confers  administrative  powers  on 
bishops,  presiding  elders,  stationed  preachers, 
stewards,  and  class  leaders.  These  are 
large  powers,  we  confess.  Viewed  apart 
from  their  limitations,  they  wear  a  despotic 
aspect.  But  it  is  neither  just  nor  truthful 
to  so  regard  them.  They  are  not  absolute 
and  irresponsible  powers;  but  they  are  so 
environed  by  restrictions  and  limitations, 
that  notwithstanding  their  formidable  ap- 
pearance, they  are  not  inconsistent  with 
the  liberties  of  both  preachers  and  people. 
Note  then  the  limitations  of  these  powers. 
1.  The  six  restrictive  rules  remove  several 
most  important  subjects  from  the  sphere  of 
its  legislative  jurisdiction.  By  forbidding 


222        METHODIST    CHURCH    GOVERNMENT. 

it  to  change  the  doctrines  and  "  General 
Rules,"  they  deprive  it  of  power  to  afflict 
the  conscience  of  the  church  by  forcing  new 
opinions  upon  it,  or  to  create  any  law  for 
the  government  of  its  life,  which  is  not 
already  recognized  in  principle  by  the 
General  Rules.  Thus  the  religious  faith 
and  the  moral  duties  of  the  church  are  not 
placed  in  the  keeping  of  the  General  Con- 
ference, and  may  not  be  altered  by  its 
authority.  The  principle  of  Methodism  is, 
that  God  has  determined  these  great 
matters,  and  that  ecclesiastical  legislation 
can  rightfully  expound  His  teachings,  and 
no  more.  The  Methodistic  exposition  of 
them  is  in  our  articles  of  faith  and  General 
Rules,  and  the  General  Conference  is  for- 
bidden to  alter  it,  except  in  concurrence 
with  the  Annual  Conferences.  Hence  the 
sphere  for  legislation  by  our  General  Con- 
ference is  mostly  limited  to  disciplinary 
regulations. 

2.  The  judicial    power    of    the   General 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   223 

Conference  is  also  limited.  It  has  original 
jurisdiction  only  over  the  bishops.  It  is 
only  a  court  of  appeals  for  travelling 
preachers.  It  cannot  receive  and  try  charges 
against  a  travelling  preacher  or  a  layman. 
The  court  for  the  trial  of  the  former  is  his 
Annual  Conference;  for  the  latter,  the 
"  society "  in  which  he  holds  his  member- 
ship. Neither  can  the  General  Conference 
interfere  directly  with  the  action  of  the 
lower  courts.  With  the  "  society,"  or  its 
court  of  appeal,  the  Quarterly  Conference, 
it  has  no  means  of  intermeddling.  The 
decisions  of  the  latter  body  are  final  and 
conclusive,  unless  exception  can  be  taken 
to  the  administration  of  the  preacher  pre- 
siding at  the  trial.  In  that  case,  his  admin- 
istration is  subject  to  examination  by  the 
Annual  Conference,  and  may  be  determined 
finally  by  appeal  to  the  General  Conference, 
whose  decisions  may,  by  possibility,  lead 
to  a  reversal  of  the  finding  of  the  Quarterly 
Conference,  and  a  new  trial.  Such  a  result, 


224   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

however,  will  be  an  exception  to  ordinary 
rule.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Methodist  laymen 
are  responsible  to  their  peers  only.  They 
are  not  held  judicially  responsible  to  either 
the  General  or  an  Annual  Conference.  In 
regard  to  travelling  preachers,  their  first 
responsibility  is  to  their  Conference,  and 
unless  their  conduct  is  brought  by  appeal 
before  the  General  Conference,  that  body 
has  no  jurisdiction  over  them.  Is  it  not 
apparent  from  these  facts,  that  the  judicial 
authority  of  the  General  Conference  is  far 
from  being  absolute  or  despotic? 

3.  The  administrative  power  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  is  also  limited.  Its  ad- 
ministrative powers  are  practically  limited 
to  the  election  and  removal  of  bishops,  and 
to  the  formation  of  rules  for  the  conduct  of 
the  various  administrators  of  its  regulations 
provided  for  in  the  Discipline.  But,  let  it  be 
remembered,  there  is  but  one  class  of  admin- 
istrators directly  responsible  to  it,  viz.,  the 
bishops.  Class  leaders  are  responsible  to 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   225 

the  preacher.  Stewards  to  the  Quarterly 
Conference.  Preachers  to  their  Annual  Con- 
ferences. Presiding  elders  to  the  Bishops. 
The  same  thing  is  partially  true  of  the 
executive  bodies  in  the  church.  They  are  not 
so  responsible  to  the  General  Conference 
as  to  be  susceptible  of  coercion  by  it :  the 
Quarterly  Conference  not  being  responsible 
to  it  at  all,  and  the  Annual  Conferences  only 
through  the  submission  of  their  journals  to 
it  for  examination  and  approval. 

I  -  know  that  it  has  been  said  that  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  could  coerce  a  refractory  or 
heretical  Annual  Conference,  by  directing 
the  bishops  to  withdraw  their  administrations 
from  it,  or  to  scatter  its  members  by  trans- 
fers, and  to  substitute  faithful  men  by  the 
exercise  of  the  same  power.  But  the  men- 
tion of  these  remedies  only  proves  how  weak 
the  General  Conference  would  be  if  brought 
into  conflict  with  an  Annual  Conference, 
united  on  any  great  principle  or  measure ; 
for  are  not  both  the  remedies  proposed, 
15 


226   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

suicidal  acts?  Does  the  Conference  com- 
mand the  bishops  to  refuse  their  services 
to  a  Conference  ?  What  is  that  but  cutting 
off  one  of  its  members,  and  thereby  weak- 
ening itself.  Such  an  act  repeated  thirty-nine 
times  would  annihilate  it.  The  exercise  of 
the  transfer  power  to  the  extent  proposed, 
we  take  to  be  practically  impossible.  It 
looks  effectual  enough  in  theory,  but  it  could 
never  be  carried  out  in  practice.  It  is  idle 
to  dream  of  it.  What  body  of  ministers 
would  submit  to  it  ?  What  body  of  churches 
would  consent  to  such  a  removal  of  their 
pastorate  ?  How  could  such  a  substitution 
be  made  without  almost  disorganizing  the 
work  generally  ?  Where  could  the  men  be 
found  who  would  consent  to  occupy  the  terri- 
tory of  the  refractory  Conference  under  such 
circumstances  ?  A  scheme  so  hedged  up  with 
difficulties  is  not  practicable,  and  its  enun- 
ciation was  a  blunder.  It  will  never  be  of 
use,  save  as  an  argument  in  the  mouth  of  our 
foes,  who  delight  to  employ  it  in  exhibiting 


METHODIST    CHURCH   GOVERNMENT.        227 

what   they  call  the  despotic  capabilities  of 
Methodism. 

With  these  facts  I  submit  the  question 
to  your  good  sense :  —  Can  a  Conference  so 
limited,  by  constitutional  restrictions,  in  the 
range  of  its  legislative  functions ;  so  depen- 
dent for  the  enforcement  and  administration 
of  its  disciplinary  regulations  on  tribunals 
and  administrators  not  judicially  responsible 
to  itself,  and  whose  action  is  in  a  great 
degree  independent  of  it;  so  almost  utterly 
deprived  of  coercive  power,  —  can  such  a 
Conference  be  that  centralized  authority 
which  men  are  wont  to  call  a  despotism? 
Was  ever  government  with  such  limitations 
pronounced  a  despotism  before?  Never. 
Never,  so  long  as  it  is  powerless  to  impose 
a  new  dogma  on  the  belief,  or  a  new  rule  of 
life  on  the  conscience ;  so  long  as  it  cannot 
arraign,  try,  or  expel  layman  or  minister ;  so 
long  as  the  enforcement  of  its  regulations 
depends  on  tribunals  which  it  cannot  coerce 
or  control ;  so  long,  it  must  be  monstrously 


228   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

unjust  and  manifestly  false  to  call  it  a  "  naked 
clerical  despotism." 

Thus,  my  reader,  you  see  that  none  of  the 
elements  essential  to  a  despotism  can  be 
found  in  any  part  of  the  system  of  Metho- 
dism. They  are  not  found  in  its  Annual 
Conferences,  in  its  Episcopacy,  nor  in  its 
General  Conference.  Can  they  then  be 
found  at  all?  Most  assuredly  they  cannot j 
for  the  government  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  is  not  a  despotism.  Neither 
can  it  ever  become  such,  so  long  as  its  exist- 
ence depends  on  the  consent  and  voluntary 
contributions  of  its  members.  Should  it 
ever  become  oppressive,  it  would  fall  to 
pieces  like  a  rope  of  sand.  The  people  have 
but  to  withold  pecuniary  support,  as  they 
would  and  ought  to  do,  if  treated  with  injus- 
tice, and  the  fabric  would  tumble  into 
fragments.  Deprived  of  the  support  of  the 
people,  the  dependent  pastors  would  be 
compelled  to  vacate  their  pulpits,  for  the 
Conferences  have  no  funds  or  other  property 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   229 

with  which  to  support  them.  So  long  as  the 
ministry  is  thus  directly  and  absolutely  de- 
pendent on  the  people,  there  is,  there  can  be, 
no  possibility  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  becoming  a  despotism. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  Methodist 
ministers  either  own  or  control  the  churches 
and  parsonages  erected  by  the  people ;  that 
though  this  property  is  held  by  trustees,  they 
are,  in  fact,  appointed  by  and  subject  to  the 
will  of  the  pastor  in  office  at  the  time.  This 
is  another  misrepresentation.  Our  ministers 
neither  own  nor  control  church  property,  as 
you  may  see  by  turning  to  the  chapter  in  the 
Discipline  of  the  M.  E.  Church  which  de- 
scribes the  duties  of  "  the  Trustees."  That 
chapter  provides,  1.  That  the  preacher  in 
charge,  or  presiding  elder  of  the  district 
may  create  "a  new  board  of  trustees,"  to 
hold  property  for  the  M.  E.  Church,  unless 
the  laws  of  the  State  provide  for  their  crea- 
tion in  some  other  way.  Hence,  in  the 
absence  of  State  laws,  the  right  to  appoint 


230    METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

new  boards  of  trustees  is  lodged  in  our 
preachers.  But  "where  State  laws  provide 
otherwise,  the  Discipline  unequivocally  waives 
that  right. 

2.  When  a  vacancy  occurs  in  a  board  of 
trustees,  it  is  the  duty  of  the   preacher   or 
presiding  elder  to  nominate  another  person 
to  fill  the  vacancy.     The  appointment  of  the 
new  trustee,  however,  is  with  the  trustees. 
If  they  are  equally  divided,  the  preacher  has 
the  casting  vote. 

3.  The  trustees  are  not  responsible  to  the 
preacher,  presiding  elder,  Annual,  or  General 
Conference,  but  to  the  Quarterly  Conference 
of  their  circuit   or  station  —  which    Confer- 
ence, as  is  well  known,  is  constituted  almost 
entirely  of  laymen. 

4.  Our  ministry,  says  Bishop  Baker,  in  his 
excellent    "  Guide   Book,"    either    in    their 
individual  or  associated  capacity,  as  Annual 
or  General  Conferences,  have  never  claimed, 
nor  do  they  hold,  in  law,  any  title   to    any 
chapel  or  parsonage  by  the  deed  of  settle- 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   231 

ment.  The  fee  of  the  land  is  vested  in 
trustees,  who  hold  the  property  in  behalf  of 
each  respective  society.  The  General  Con- 
ference claims  merely  the  right  to  supply  the 
pulpit,  by  such  means  as  it  shall  elect,  with 
duly  accredited  ministers  and  preachers  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  "  who  shall 
preach  and  expound  God's  holy  word 
therein."  The  General  Conference  of  1796, 
referring  to  the  Deed  of  Settlement,  adopted 
the  following  sentiments:  "By  which  we 
manifest  to  the  whole  world  that  the  property 
of  the  preaching  houses  will  not  be  invested 
in  the  General  Conference.  But  the  pres- 
ervation of  our  union,  and  the  progress  of 
the  work  of  God,  indispensably  require  that 
the  free  and  full  use  of  the  pulpit  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  the  General  Conference 
and  the  yearly  Conferences  authorized  by 
them.  Of  course,  the  travelling  preachers 
who  are  in  full  connexion,  assembled  in 
their  Conferences,  are  the  patrons  of  the 
pulpits  of  our  churches."  Rec.  Gen.  Con/.. 


232   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

p.  15.  And  if  any  chapel  or  parsonage  is 
sold  by  the  trustees  to  liquidate  their  debts, 
the  surplus  money,  after  cancelling  the  debts, 
must  be  appropriated  by  the  Annual  Con- 
ference, "  according  to  the  best  of  their 
judgment,  for  the  use  of  the  said  society" 

From  these  facts  it  is  obvious  that  the 
assertion  stated  above  is  utterly  groundless. 
Our  trustees  are  not  " appointed  by  the  pastor 
in  office,"  (except  when  a  new  board  is  to  be 
appointed  in  States  which  have  no  statute 
otherwise  providing.)  They  are  not  sub- 
jected to  the  will  of  the  pastor  in  office,  for 
they  are  not  responsible  to  him,  nor  can  they 
be  in  any  way  controlled  by  him.  The  only 
right  which  Methodist  ministers  can  legally 
enforce  in  our  church  property  is  that  of 
preaching  in  the  pulpits  of  our  churches,  and 
occupying  our  parsonages  according  to  the 
intention  of  those  who  contributed  monies 
for  their  erection.  Can  any  man  show  the 
injustice,  or  even  the  impropriety  of  such  a 
claim?  It  cannot  be  done. 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   233 

To  comprehend  and  appreciate  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
you  must  view  it  from  the  same  standpoint 
as  they  who  constructed  it.  From  that  point 
alone,  can  you  rationally  expect  to  see  it  in 
its  beauty,  fitness,  and  excellence.  If  you 
study  it  from  any  other  position,  it  will  only 
perplex  and  confound  you ;  because  you  will 
fail  to  discover  the  motives  and  aims  which 
it  embodies.  Those  motives  and  those  aims 
are  the  keys  which  unlock  its  gates,  and 
unfold  its  wonderful  adaptations  to  all  candid 
beholders.  Only  seize  them,  and  like  Chris- 
tian and  Hopeful  with  their  key  of  faith  in 
the  castle  of  Giant  Despair,  you  will  escape 
from  the  dungeon  of  perplexity  in  which 
those  who  assail  it  without  understanding  it 
would  fain  lock  you  up  for  ever. 

What  then,  are  the  motives  and  aims  incor- 
porated in  it  ?  You  have  but  to  refer  to  the 
life  of  Wesley,  and  the  answer  is  yours. 
What  great  motive  roused  him  to  abandon 
the  cloisters  of  Oxford  and  to  devote  himself 


234       METHODIST    CHURCH    GOVERNMENT. 

to  the  work  of  an  Evangelist  ?  Did  he  not 
say,  like  Paul,  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth 
me  ?  That  was  his  motive  —  the  love  of  souls 
proceeding  from  the  love  of  Christ.  What 
was  his  object  ?  To  spread  scriptural  holi- 
ness over  the  land  and  the  world !  To  these 
ideas,  he  and  his  coadjutors  conformed  the 
ecclesiastical  system  which  they  constructed, 
both  in  England  and  America.  They  regard- 
ed it,  as  an  organization  for  the  propagation 
of  the  gospel  and  the  culture  of  piety  in  the 
individual  heart.  They  took  its  laws  from 
the  Bible,  which  is  the  great  constitution  and 
statute  book  of  Methodism.  They  framed 
its  discipline,  rather  as  a  code  of  by-laws  to 
provide  for  the  execution  of  the  divine 
statutes,  than  as  a  book  of  legislative  canons. 
Hence,  nearly  everything  in  the  discipline 
relates  to  the  constitution  of  a  series  of 
executive  bodies  and  officers  charged  with  the 
execution,  not  of  Mr.  Wesley's  laws,  but  of 
the  precepts  of  Christ.  The  classes,  love 
feasts,  and  prayer  meetings  are  for  the  fulfil- 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   235 

ment  of  Christ's  law  of  Christian  fellowship ; 
the  board  meeting,  the  Quarterly  Conference, 
and  the  Annual  Conference,  are  chiefly  to 
secure  wholesome  discipline,  and  to  make 
such  secular  and  other  provisions  as  may  be 
necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  a  visible 
organization  of  Christians.  The  General 
Conference  is  a  legislative  body,  only  so  far 
as  it  determines  for  the  church  what  moral 
practices  the  precepts  of  Christ  require  it  to 
enforce,  and  what  to  reject ;  and  what  execu- 
tive methods  are  best  fitted  to  accomplish 
the  grand  end  of  the  organization.  In  fact, 
many  of  its  provisions  under  the  latter  head 
are  merely  advisory ;  for  their  observance  is 
enforced  by  no  penalty.  All  its  rituals ;  its 
rules  on  preaching,  on  visiting  from  house  to 
house,  on  the  employment  of  time ;  its  direc- 
tions concerning  public  worship,  singing,  band 
societies,  dress,  marriages,  &c.,  fall  into  this 
category.  Thus  its  discipline  is,  as  the  name 
imports,  more  a  book  of  provisions  for  the 
enforcement  of  the  laws  of  Christ  and  the 


236   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

propagation  of  the  gospel,  than  a  code  of 
legislative  canons  for  the  direction  of  the 
life.  He  who  reads  it  aright  will  sec  its 
grand  purpose  to  engage  the  whole  church  in 
unceasing  effort  to  evangelize  the  world, 
standing  out  in  bold  relief  on  every  page. 
He  will  see  this  purpose  applied,  with  little 
regard  to  individual  interests,  tastes,  or 
preferences.  No  provision  is  made  for  the 
toleration  of  indolence,  ambition,  or  any 
other  form  of  selfishness.  Everything  is 
made  to  yield  to  the  demands  of  the  spiritual 
nature  and  the  requirements  of  a. vigorous 
gospel  propagandism. 

How  beautifully  is  this  illustrated  in  its 
itinerancy.  Observing  in  the  history  of  the 
primitive  church,  that  it  was  most  pure  and 
most  successful,  when  its  ministry  contained 
a  large  corps  of  evangelists ;  and  that  when 
evangelists  generally  became  pastors,  they 
lost  both  their  piety  and  efficiency,  Mr. 
Wesley  seized  on  the  idea  of  a  ministry 
composed  entirely  of  evangelists  or  itiner- 


METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT.   237 

ants.  He  saw  that  such  a  ministry  would 
require  great  personal  sacrifices  on  the  part 
of  the  ministry,  and  severe  trials  of  feeling 
on  the  part  of  the  churches.  The  former 
must  abandon  the  idea  of  a  permanent  and 
real  home  on  earth;  must  consent  to  the 
systematic  disruption  of  the  social  affections ; 
must  resign  the  quiet  opportunities  for  in- 
tellectual culture  and  social  influence  which 
the  permanent  pastorate  so  abundantly  pro- 
vides ;  must  expose  their  families  to  the  social 
and  educational  evils  inseparable  from  a 
pilgrim  life ;  must  accept,  in  a  word,  a  life  of 
incessant  labor,  unrest,  and  change.  The 
churches,  too,  must  be  sorely  tried  in  feeling 
by  such  a  system,  though  their  trials  are 
nothing  when  compared  to  those  of  the  min- 
istry. Mr.  "Wesley  saw  all  this.  But  he  also 
saw,  that  all  these  evils  were  outweighed  by 
the  superior  vitality,  activity,  and  spiritual 
results  likely  to  proceed  from  it,  and,  there- 
fore, he  adopted  it  and  recommended  the 
American  Methodists  to  do  the  same.  Thus 


238   METHODIST  CHUECH  GOVERNMENT. 

far,  the  result  has  justified  his  expectation. 
The  Methodist  itinerancy  has  been  the  most 
successful  body  of  ministers  known  to  the 
church  since  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

Some  persons  will  tell  you,  it  would  be 
better  if  Methodism  admitted  the  laity  to 
a  more  direct  participation  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church  than  it  now  does.  '  Per- 
haps it  would.  I  see  but  one  real  objection 
to  the  idea;  but  that  is  a  very  strong  one. 
It  does  not  appear  practicable,  unless  some 
other  very  marked  and  doubtful  changes  are 
also  made.  By  degrees,  however,  it  may  be 
done.  The  idea  is  gaining  ground.  Our 
ministry  is  fast  yielding  the  management  of 
the  financial  matters  of  the  church  to  its 
laymen.  It  is  inviting  their  cooperation  in 
such  parts  of  the  business  of  an  Annual 
Conference  as  admits  of  it.  It  interferes 
very  little  in  the  fiscal  affairs  of  individual 
churches.  In  fact,  it  is  my  opinion  that,  in 
our  local  churches,  the  laity  generally  have 
more  to  do  with  their  management,  than 


METHODIST    CHURCH    GOVERNMENT.        239 

they  do  in  Congregational  churches.  Our 
"  boards "  and  "  Quarterly  Conferences  " 
usually  comprise  a  majority  of  the  effective 
and  active  portion  of  the  male  membership, 
and  they  determine  all  important  matters  that 
come  up  in  their  respective  churches ;  while 
in  Congregational  churches,  notwithstanding 
the  nominal  parity  of  their  members,  most  of 
their  affairs  are  practically  controlled  by  the 
deacons  and  two  or  three  other  influential 
men.  Besides,  our  laity  create  the  ministry ; 
for  no  man  can  become  a  minister  without  the 
vote  of  a  Quarterly  Conference.  With  the 
Congregationalists,  the  clergy  alone  deter- 
mine who  shall  be  admitted  to  their  number. 
So,  too,  in  the  choice  of  a  pastor,  though 
our  churches  consent  to  receive  their  preacher 
at  the  hands  of  a  bishop,  yet  their  wishes 
are  always  considered  and  yielded  to  if 
possible.  They  certainly  obtain  the  man  of 
their  choice  as  frequently  as  our  Congrega- 
tional brethren  do,  and  without  the  expense 
and  difficulty  which  with  them  are  insepar- 


2-10   METHODIST  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT. 

able  from  a  change  of  pastors.  Theoretically 
their  system  yields  more  to  the  laity  than 
ours ;  practically  there  is  no  church  which 
furnishes  freer  scope  for  the  activity,  or 
defers  more  to  the  choice,  of  its  laymen  than 
ours. 

I  have  now  shown  you  that  the  govern- 
ment of  Methodism  is  not  a  despotism ;  that 
it  cannot  become  so  without  self  destruction, 
because  its  principal  support  depends  on 
the  purely  voluntary  contributions  of  the 
laity;  that  its  ruling  motive,  object,  and 
results  justify  its  peculiarities;  and  that 
though  it  does  not  yield  so  much  power  in 
theory  to  laymen,  as  some  other  systems,  it 
actually  concedes  much  in  practice.  These 
views  will,  I  hope,  satisfy  you,  that  the 
attacks  of  our  enemies  are  founded  more 
in  ignorance  or  malice,  than  in  truth  and 
fact.  It  would  be  easy  to  meet  all  their 
specific  allegations  in  detail,  but  it  is  unneces- 
sary in  your  case.  "What  I  have  said  is 
sufficient  to  convince  you,  that  you  have  no 
possible  risk  of  personal  oppression  in  the 


METHODIST   CHURCH   GOVERNMENT.       241 

M.  E.  Church;*  that  the  only  pressure  you 
can  ever  experience  from  its  government, 
will  come  in  the  form  of  effort  to  promote 
your  holiness  and  usefulness,  which  is  pre- 
cisely what  you  desire.  Hence,  to  you,  its 
government  will  be  as  acceptable,  as  its 
doctrines  are  precious. 

And  now,  beloved  convert,  adieu  1  Though 
strangers  to  each  other,  in  the  flesh,  I  trust 
we  now  feel  one  in  spirit.  This  being  so,  you 
will  follow  the  advice  of  my  unpretending 
book,  and  become  a  willing  member  of  the 
great  Methodist  Communion ;  in  which  case, 
I  trust,  we  shall  remain  fellow  travellers  in 
the  way  of  holiness,  until  we  meet  in  the 
world  of  spirits.  Should  it  then  appear  that 
my  advice  contributed  to  your  glorious  des- 
tiny, we  will  rejoice  together,  returning 
thanks  to  Him  whose  spirit  led  me  to  write 
and  you  to  read.  Until  then,  fare  thee  well. 

*  For  full  information  on  the  controverted  points  in  Methodist 
church  government  see  Church  Polity  by  Abel  Stevens,  Polity 
of  Methodism  by  Dr.  Hodgson,  Original  Church  of  Christ  by 
Dr.  Bangs,  &c.,  &c. 

16 


APPENDIX,  NO.  I. 


The  following  logical  paragraph  gives  a  clear  and  satis- 
factory view  of  the  difference  between  the  theory  which 
in  theology  is  known  as  Pelagianism,  and  the  evangelical 
Arminianism  taught  by  the  M.  E.  Church.  It  is  taken 
from  Watson's  Dictionary : 

The  followers  of  the  truly  evangelical  Arminius,  or 
those  who  hold  the  tenet  of  general  redemption  with  its 
concomitants,  have  often  been  greatly  traduced,  by  tho 
ignorant  among  their  doctrinal  opponents,  as  Pelagian:, 
or  at  least  as  Semi-Pelagians.  It  may  therefore  serve  the 
cause  of  truth  to  exhibit  the  appropriate  reply  which  the 
Dutch  Arminians  gave  to  this  charge  when  urged  against 
them  at  the  Synod  of  Dort,  and  which  they  verified  and 
maintained  by  arguments  and  authorities  that  were  un- 
answerable. In  their  concluding  observations  they  say, 
"  From  all  these  remarks,  a  judgment  may  easily  be 
formed  at  what  an  immense  distance  our  sentiments 
stand  from  the  dogmatical  assertions  of  the  Pelagians  and 
Semi-Pelagians  on  the  grace  of  God  in  the  conversion  of 
man.  Pelagius,  in  the  first  instance,  attributed  all  things 
to  nature  :  but  we  acknowledge  nothing  but  grace.  When 
Pelagius  was  blamed  for  not  acknowledging  grace,  he  be- 
gan indeed  to  speak  of  it,  but  it  is  evident  that  by  grace 
he  understood  the  power  of  nature,  as  created  by  God, 
that  is,  the  rational  will ;  but  by  grace  we  understand  a 
supernatural  gift.  Pelagius,  when  afterwards  pressed 
with  passages  of  Scripture,  also  admitted  this  supernatu- 
ral grace ;  but  he  placed  it  solely  in  the  external  teaching 
of  the  law  :  though  we  affirm  that  God  offers  his  word  to 
men,  yet  we  likewise  affirm  that  he  inwardly  causes  the 
understanding  to  believe.  Subsequently,  Pelagius  joined 
to  this  external  grace,  that  by  which  sins  are  pardoned :  we 
acknowledge  not  only  the  grace  by  which  sins  are  for- 


APPENDIX.  243 


given,  bat  also  that  by  which  men  are  assisted  to  refrain 
from  the  commission  of  sin.  In  addition  to  his  previous 
concessions,  Pelagius  granted,  that  the  grace  of  Christ 
was  requisite,  beside  the  two  kinds  which  he  had  enumer- 
ated ;  but  he  attributed  it  entirely  to  the  doctrine  and  ex- 
ample of  Christ  that  we  are  aided  in  our  endeavors  not 
to  commit  sin  :  we  likewise  admit  that  the  doctrine  and 
example  of  Christ  afford  us  some  aid  in  refraining  from 
sin,  but  in  addition  to  their  influence  we  also  place  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  with  which  God  endues  us,  and 
which  enlightens  our  understandings,  and  confers  strength 
and  power  upon  our  will  to  abstain  from  sinning.  When 
Pelagius  afterward  owned  the  assistance  of  divine  power 
inwardly  working  in  man  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  placed 
it  solely  in  the  enlightening  of  the  understanding;  but 
we  believe,  that  it  is  not  only  necessary  for  us  to  know  or 
understand  what  we  ought  to  do,  but  that  it  is  also  re- 
quisite for  us  to  implore  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  tliat 
we  may  be  rendered  capable  of  performing,  and  may  de- 
light in  the  performance  of,  that  which  it  is  our  duty  to 
do.  Pelagius  admitted  grace, — but  it  has  been  a  ques- 
tion with  some  whether  he  meant  only  illumination,  or, 
beside  this,  a  power  communicated  to  the  will ; — he  ad- 
mitted grace,  out  he  did  this  only  to  show  that  by  means 
of  it  man  can  with  greater  ease  act  aright :  we,  on  the 
contrary,  affirm  that  grace  is  bestowed,  not  that  we  may 
be  able  with  greater  ease  to  act  aright,  fwhich  is  as 
though  we  can  do  this  even  without  grace,)  but  that 
grace  is  absolutely  necessary  to  enable  us  to  act  at  all 
aright.  Pelagius  asserted,  that  man,  so  far  from  requir- 
ing the  aid  of  grace  for  the  performance  of  good  actions, 
is,  through  the  powers  implanted  in  him  at  the  time  of 
his  creation,  capable  of  fulfilling  the  whole  law,  of  loviiu; 
God,  and  of  overcoming  all  temptations ;  we,  on  the  con- 
trary, assert  that  the  grace  of  God  is  required  for  die 
performance  of  every  act  of  piety.  Pelagius  declared, 
that  by  the  works  of  nature  man  renders  himself  worthy 
of  grace ;  but  we,  in  common  with  the  church  universal, 
condemn  this  dogma.  When  Pelagius  afterward  himself 
condemned  this  tenet,  he  understood  by  grace,  partly 


244  APPENDIX. 


natural  grace,  which  is  antecedent  to  all  merit,  and  partly 
remission  of  sins,  which  he  acknowledged  to  be  gratuit- 
ous ;  but  he  added,  that  through  works  performed  by  the 
powers  of  nature  alone,  at  least  through  the  desire  of 
good  and  the  imperfect  longing  after  it,  men  merit  that 
spiritual  grace  by  which  they  are  assisted  in  good  works  ; 
but  we  declare,  that  men  will  that  which  is  good  on  ac- 
count of  God's  provenience  or  going  before  them  by  his 
grace,  and  exciting  within  them  a  longing  after  good; 
otherwise  grace  would  no  longer  be  grace,  because  it 
would  not  be  gratuitously  bestowed,  but  only  on  account 
of  the  merit  of  man."  That  many  who  have  held  some 
tenets  in  common  with  the  true  Arminians  have  been,  in 
different  degrees,  followers  of  Pelagius,  is  well  known  ; 
but  the  original  Arminians  were  in  truth  as  far  from  Pe- 
lagian or  Semi-Pelagian  errors,  granting  the  opinions  of 
Pelagius  to  be  fairly  reported  by  his  adversaries,  as  the 
Calvinists  themselves.  This  is  also  the  case  with  the 
whole  body  of  Wesleyan  Methodists,  and  of  the  cognate 
societies  to  which  they  have  given  rise,  both  in  Great 
Britain  and  America. 


APPENDIX,  NO.   II. 


CALVINISM  IN  1855. 

That  my  reader  may  judge  of  Calvinism  as  now  taught 
by  some  of  its  advocates,  I  copy  the  following  extracts 
from  the  "  Confession  of  Faith  and  Form  of  Covenant, 
of  the  Old  South  Church  in  Boston,  Massachusetts." 
The  edition  from  which  I  take  these  extracts  is  from  the 
press  of  Crocker  &  Brewster,  and  bears  the  date  of 


APPENDIX.  245 


1855.  I  have  italicised  several  sentences  which  are  wor- 
thy of  special  note,  because  they  contain  the  most  ultra 
aspects  of  Calvinism. 

OF  GOD'S  ETERNAL  DECREE. 

God  from  all  eternity  did  by  the  most  wise  and  holj 
counsel  of  his  own  will,  freely  and  unchangeably  ordain 
whatsoever  comes  to  pass ;  yet  so  as  thereby  neither  is 
God  the  author  of  sin,  nor  is  violence  offered  to  the  will 
of  the  creatures ;  nor  is  the  liberty  or  contingency  of 
second  causes  taken  away,  but  rather  established. 

2.  Although  God  knows  whatsoever  may  or  can  come 
to  pass  upon  all  supposed  conditions,  yet   hath    he.  not 
decreed  anythina.,  because  he  foresaw  it  as  future,  or  as 
that  which  would  come  to  pass  upon  such  conditions. 

3.  By  the  decree  of  God  for  the  manifestation   of  his 
glory,  some  men  and  angels  are  predestinated  unto  ever- 
lasting life,  and  others  foreordained  to  everlasting  death. 

4.  These  angels  and  men  thus  predestinated  and  fore- 
ordained, are  particularly  and  unchangeably  designed, 
and  their  number  is  so  certain  and  definite,  that  it  can- 
not be  either  increased  or  diminished. 

5.  Those  of  mankind  that  are  predestinated  unto  life, 
God,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  was  laid,  accord- 
ing to  his  eternal  and  immutable  purpose,  and  the  secret 
counsel  and  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  hath  chosen  in 
Christ  unto  everlasting  glory,  out  of  his  mere  free  grace 
and  love,  without  any  foresight  of  faith  or  good  works,  or 
perseverance  in  either  of  them,  or  any  other  thing  in 
the  creature,  as  conditions  or  causes  moving  him  there- 
unto, and  all  to  the  praise  of  his  glorious  grace. 

6.  As  God  hath  appointed  the  elect  unto  glory,  so 
hath  he  by  the  eternal  and  most  free  purpose  of  his  will 
foreordained   all  the  means  thereunto;  wherefore  they 
who  are  elected,  being  fallen  in  Adam,  are  redeemed  by 
Christ,  are  effectually  called  unto  faith  in  Christ  by  his 
spirit  working  in  due  season,  are  justified,  adopted,  sancti- 
fied, and  kept  by  his  power  through  faith  unto  salvation. 


246  APPENDIX. 


Neither  are  any  other  redeemed  by   Christ,  or  effectually 
called,  justified,  adopted,  sanctified,  and  saved,  BUT  THE 

KLECT  ONLY. 

7.  The  rent  of  mankind  God  was  pleased,  according  to  the 
unsearchable  counsel  of  his  own  will,  whereby  he  extend- 
ed or  withholdeth  mercy,  as  he  pleaseth,  for  the  glory  of 
his  sovereign  power  over  his  creatures,  to  pass  by,  and  to 
ordain  them  to  dishonor  and  wrath  for  their  sin,  to  the 
praise  of  his  glorious  justice. 


OF    EFFECTUAL   CALLING. 

All  those  whom  God  hath  predestinated  unto  life,  and 
those  only,  he  is  pleased  in  his  appointed  and  accepted 
time,  effectually  to  call  by  word  and  spirit  out  of  that 
state  of  sin  and  death  in  which  they  are  by  nature,  to 
grace  and  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ,  enlightening  their 
minds  spiritually  and  savingly  to  understand  the  things  of 
God,  taking  away  their  heart  of  stone  and  giving  unto 
them  an  heart  of  flesh,  renewing  their  wills,  and  by  his 
almighty  power  determining  them  to  that  which  is  good, 
and  effectually  drawing  them  to  Jesus  Christ :  yet  so, 
as  they  come  most  freely,  being  made  willing  by  hia 
grace. 

2.  This  effectual  call  is  of  God's  free  and  special  grace 
alone,  not  from  any  thing  at  all  foreseen  in  man,  who  is 
altogether  passive  therein  until,  being  quickened  and  re- 
newed by  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  is  thereby  enabled  to  answer 
this  call,  and  to  embrace  the  grace  offered  and  conveyed 
in  it. 

3.  Elect  infants  dying  in  infancy,  are  regenerated  and 
saved  by  Christ,  who  worketh  when,  and  where,  and  how 
he  pleaseth  ;  so  also  are  all  other  elect  persons  who  are 
incapable  of  being  outwardly  called  by  the  ministry  of 
the  world. 

Others  not  elected  although  they  may  be  called  by  the 
ministjy  of  the  word,  and  may  have  some  common 
operations  of  the  Spirit,  yet  not  being  effectually  drawu 
bjr  the  Father,  they  neither  do  nor  can  come  unto  Christ, 


APPENDIX.  247 


and  therefore  cannot  be  saved  ;  much  less  can  men  not 
professing  the  Christian  religion,  be  saved  in  any  other 
way  whatsoever,  be  they  never  so  diligent  to  frame  their 
lives,  according  to  the  light  of  nature,  and  the  law  of 
that  religion  they  do  profess ;  and  to  assert  and  maintain 
that  they  may,  is  very  pernicious,  and  to  be  detested. 


OF   THE   PERSEVERANCE   OF   THE   SAINTS. 

They  whom  God  hath  accepted  in  his  Beloved,  effectu- 
ally called  and  sanctified  by  his  Spirit,  CAN  neither  totally 
nor  finally  fall  away  from  the  state  of  grace,  but  shall 
CERTAINLY  persevere  therein  to  this  end,  and  be  eternally 
saved. 

2.  This  perseverance  of  the  saints  depends  not  upon 
their  own  free  will,  but  upon  the  immutability  of  the  de- 
cree of  election,  from  the  free  and  unchangeable  love  of 
God  the  Father,  upon  the  efficacy  of  the  merit  and  in- 
tercession of  Jesus  Christ,  and  union  with  him ;  the  oath 
of  God,  the  abiding  of  his  Spirit,  and  the  seed  of  God 
within  them,  and  the  nature  of  the  covenant  of  grace, 
from  all  which  ariscth  also  the  certainty  and  infallibility 
thereof. 

3.  And  though  they  may,  through  the  temptation  of 
Satan,  and  of  the  world,  the  prevalency  of  corruption  re- 
maining in  them,  and  the  neglect  of  the  means  of  their 
preservation,  fall  into  grievous  sins,  and  for  a  time  con- 
tinue therein,  whereby  they  incur  God's  displeasure,  and 
grieve  his  Holy  Spirit,  come  to  have  their  graces  and 
comforts  impaired,  have  their  hearts  hardened,  and  tlieir 
consciences  wounded,  hurt  and  scandalize   others,  and 
bring  temporal  judgments  upon  themselves;  yet  they  are 
and  shall  be  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto 
salvation. 


248  APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX,    NO.    III. 


The  following  extracts,  from  standard  expositors  of 
Calvinism,  are  submitted  to  the  reafler  to  prove  that  "  in- 
fant damnation  "  is  a  doctrine  which  the  fathers  of  Cal- 
vinism regarded  as  a  logical  sequence  of  their  principles: 
though  very  few  Calvinists  of  the  present  day  are  willing 
to  accept  such  a  horrid  dogma,  albeit  it  is  logically  con- 
tained in  every  form  of  Calvinistic  theology. 

AUGUSTINE,  the  inventor  of  the  scheme  of  uncondi- 
tional election,  says :  — 

"  It  may  therefore  be  truly  said  that  INFANTS  dying  without 
baptism,  WILL  BE  IN  A  STATE  OP  DAMNATION  of  all  the  most 
mild.  But,  greatly  does  he  deceive  and  is  he  deceived  who  affirms  that 
they  WILL  NOT  BE  DAMNED."  —  Augustine  De  Peccat  Merit  et  Remiss, 
Lib.  i.,  c.  16. 

Again,  in  his  sermon  on  baptism,  Augustine  says :  — 

"  "We  affirm  that  they  (infants)  will  not  be  saved  and  have  eternal 
life,  except  they  be  baptized  in  Christ." — De  Baptismo  Parvulorum 
Contra  Pelagianos  Sermo  D. 

After  showing  that  infants  are  admitted  to  the  kingdom 
of  God  by  baptism,  he  adds  :  — 

"  Whosoever  does  not  belong  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  must, 
without  doubt,  belong  to  the  number  of  the  damned.  The  Lord 
will  come,  and,  about  to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead,  will,  accord- 
ing to  the  gospel,  make  two  divisions,  the  right  and  the  left.  To 
those  on  the  left  he  will  say.  Depart  into  EVERLASTING  FIKE  pre- 
pared for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  To  those  on  the  right  he  will 
say,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  which  was 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  The  one  he  call8 
a  kingdom,  the  other  damnation  with  the  devil.  THERE  is  NO 

MIDDLE  PLACE   LEFT  WHERE  YOU  CAN    PUT    INFANTS.       Behold, 

on  the  right  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Inherit,  he  says,  the  king- 
dom. He  who  is  not  there,  is  on  the  left.  What  will  happen  on 
the  left?  Depart  into  everlasting  fire.  On  the  right  an  eternaJ 


APPENDIX.  249 


kingdom ;  on  the  left,  everlasting  fire.  He  that  is  not  on  the  right, 
wilFimiisputably  be  on  the  left.  Therefore  fie  that  is  not  in  tiie  king- 
dom, is  DOUBTLESS  IN  ETERNAL  KIRK.  Certainly  he  cannot  have 
eternal  life,  who  is  not  baptized;  he  will  not  be  on  the  right,  that 
is,  he  will  not  be  in  the  kingdom. 

"  Behold,  he  [the  Lord]  has  explained  to  you  what  is  the  king- 
dom, and  what  is  everlasting  fire,  so  that  when  you  confess  that 
an  i  NKA  >T  will  not  be  in  the  kingdom,  you  may  allow  that  HE  WILL 

BE  IN   ETERNAL  KIRK. 

"  I  feel  that  this  question  is  a  profound  one,  and  I  own  that  my 
powers  are  not  sutlicient  to  fathom  its  depths,  I  must  here  be 
content  to  exclaim  with  Paul,  O  the  depth  of  the  riches.'  AN  UN- 
BAPTIZED  INFANT  OOK8  TO  DAMNATION."  —  Ibid.  14,  Capp.  2,  3, 

4,  &  7. 

FULGENTIUS,  a  theologian  of  the  school  of  Augustine, 
gives  the  following  as  one  of  the  articles  of  the  Orthodox 
faith:  — 

"  Most  firmly  hold,  and  by  no  means  doubt,  not  only  that  men 
who  have  come  to  the  use  of  reason,  but  also  that  INFANTS,  whether 
they  begin  to  live  in  their  mother's  wombs  and  there  die,  or,  after 
being  born  pass  from  this  life  without  the  sacrament  of  holy  bap- 
tism, which  is  given  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son.  and"  lioly 

Spirit,  WILL  BE   PUNISHED  WITH  THE  EVERLASTING  PUM8HMEKT 

OF  ETERNAL  FIRE;  because,  although  they  had  no  sin  of  their  own 
committing,  they  have  nevertheless  incurred  by  their  carnal  concep- 
tion and  nativity,  the  damnation  of  original  siD.-'—Fulgentiui  de 
fide  ad  Pet.  Diae,  cap.  27. 

CALVIX,  in  his  Theological  Tracts,  addresses  Sebastian 
Castalio,  for  teaching  that  all  laws,  human  and  divine, 
condemn  a  man  after  and  because  of  transgression,  in  the 
following  words :  — 

••  You  deny  that  it  is  just  in  God  to  damn  any  one,  unless  on  ac- 
count of  transgression.  Persons  innumerable  are  taken  out  of  life 
while  vt-t  infants.  1'ut  forth  now  your  virulence  against  God  who 

PRECIPITATES  INTO  ETERNAL  DEATH  HARMLESS  INFANTS  (innox- 
iot  /OrM.t)  TORN  FROM  THEIR  MOTHERS'  BREASTS.  He  who  will  HOt 

detest  this  blasphemy  [of  yours]  when  it  is  only  exposed,  may  curse 
me  at  his  will.  For  it  cannot  be  demanded  that  I  should  be  safe 
and  free  from  the  abuse  of  those  who  do  not  spare  God." — Tract* 
Theul. —  Calumnitr  Nebulonis,  $c.,  art.  14. 

Once  more  Calvin  stys  :  — 

"  Whnt  other  than  the  good  pleasure  of  God  is  the  cause  why  th« 
fall  of  Adam  involved  in  eternal  and  remediless  death  whole  na- 
tions, with  their  INFANT  OFFSPRING  f  I  confess  that  it  is  indeed  a 
hnrriblf  dteree." — Nichol't  Calvinism  and  Arminianism  Compared,  part 
1.,  p.  19. 


250  APPENDIX. 


EDWARDS,  whose  authority  as  an  expounder  of  Cal- 
vinism is  above  dispute,  says  :  — 

"We  may  well  argue  from  these  things,  that  INFANTS  are  not 
looked  upon  by  God  as  sinless,  but  that  they  are  by  nature  children 
of  wrath,  seeing  this  terrible  evil  comes  so  heavily  on  mankind  in 
infancy.  But  besides  these  things,  which  are  observable  concerning 
the  mortality  of  infants  in  general,  there  are  some  particular  ca^e» 
of  the  death  of  infants  which  the  scripture  sets  before  us,  that  are 
attended  with  circumstances,  in  a  peculiar  manner  giving  evidences 
of  the  sinfulnuss  of  such,  and  their  just  exposedness  to  divine  wrath. 
As  particularly, 

"The  destroying  of  the  INFANTS  in  Sodom,  and  the  neighboring 
cities;  which  cities,  destroyed  in  so  extraordinary,  miraculous,  and 
awful  a  manner,  are  set  forth  as  a  signal  example  of  God's  dreadful 
vengeance  for  sin,  to  the  world  in  all  generations;  agreeable  to  that 
of  the  apostle,  Jude,  verse  7." 

The  text  here  referred  to,  is  in  these  words  :  —  "  Even 
as  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  the  cities  about  them,  in 
like  manner  giving  themselves  over  to  fornication,  and 
going  after  strange  flesh,  are  set  forth  for  an  example, 

SUFFERING  THE  VENGEAXCE  OF  ETERNAL  FIRE." 

To  show  that  he  believed  these  poor  infantile  victims 
found  no  relief  in  the  future,  he  adds  :  — 

"To  say  here,  that  God  could  make  it  up  to  those  infants  in 
another  world,  must  be  an  insufficient  reply.  For  so  he  could  as 
easily  have  made  it  up  to  Lot,  or  to  ten  or  nfty  righteous  if  they  had 
been  destroyed  in  the  same  fire :  Nevertheless,  it  is  plainly  signified, 
that  this  would  not  have  been  agreeable  to  the  wise  and  holy  proceedings 
of  the  judge  of  all  the  earth."—  Edwards'  Works,  vol.  6,  pp.  262-254. 

BELLAMY,  the  friend  and  disciple  of  Edwards,  says  : 

"  It  was  at  God's  sovereign  election, —  to  give  every  child  of  Adam 
born  in  a  Christian  land,  opportunity  by  living,  to  hear  the  glad  tid- 
ings, or  only  to  grant  this  to  some,  while  others  die  in  infancy,  and 
never  hear.  Those  who  die  in  infancy,  may  as  justly  be  held  under 
law  in  the  next  world,  as  those  that  live  may  in  this.  God  is  under 
no  more  obligations  to  save  those  that  die,  than  he  is  to  save  those 
that  live ;  to  grant  the  generating  influences  of  his  spirit  to  them, 
than  he  is  to  these."— Bellamy's  Works,  vol.  2,  pp.  369,  370. 

ZANCHIUS,  who  has  always  stood  high  among  Calvinist 
writers,  says :  — 

"Says  Pighius:  'Infants  are  without  actual  sin.  Therefore, 
although  exiles  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  they  will  not  be 
damned,  nor  receive  any  punishment  of  sense,  except  those  of  them 
who  in  the  course  of  nature  sin,  either  in  their  external  or  internal 
senses  [nisi  etiam  qui  sensibus  internij  vtl  externis  naturaliter  peccant.]' 


APPENDIX.  25 1 


"  I  answer.  They  aro  nevertheless  wicked,  and  being  born 
adapted  to  sin,  AND  THEREFORE  JUSTLY  DAMNED,  although  they 
have  not  yet  sinned  after  the  similitude  of  Adam's  transgression. 
For  as  temporal  death  c:une  upon  them  on  account  o1  original  fin, 
so  DID  ALSO  ETERNAL;  for  God  threatened  both  when  he  said:  *In 
dying  you  shall  die.'  Even  young  serpents  anil  the  whelps  o/  u'oftv.i, 
who  cannot  as  yet  harm  anybody,  are  put  to  death,  and  with  jus- 
tice. How  so?  Because  they  are  of  such  a  nature,  that  they  easily 
can  do  harm.  Therefore  even  INFANTS  ARE  DESERVEDLY  DAMNED, 
on  account  of  the  nature  they  have,  to  wit,  a  wicked  nature  and  re- 
pujjiuint  to  the  laws  of  God  " — Op.  THeol.  D.  Hieron.  Zanchii,  Tom. 
4.  Lib.  1,  De  Peecat.  Orig.  Cap.  4,  thet.  6. 

THE  SYNOD  AT  CAMBRIDGE,  1648,  representing  the 
Puritan  churches  of  New  England,  unanimously  adopted 
the  confession  of  faith  published  by  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly. The  churches  of  Connecticut  did  the  same  at 
Saybrook,  in  1608.  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  holds  it  as  its  confession.  And  this  confes- 
sion contains  the  following  language  :  — 

"Eltct  infants,  dying  in  infancy,  are  regenerated  and  saved  by 
Christ  through  the  Spirit,  who  worketh  when,  and  where,  and  how 
he  pleaseth.  So  also  are  all  other  elect  persons,  who  are  incapable 
of  being  outwardly  called  by  the  ministry  of  the  word. 

"Others  not  elected,  although  they  may  be  called  by  the  ministry  of 
the  word,  and  may  have  some  common  operations  of  the  Spirit,  yet 
they  never  truly  come  unto  Christ,  and  therefore  cannot  be  saved; 
much  less  can  men  not  professing  the  Christian  religion  be  saved  in 
any  other  way  whatsoever,  be  they  never  so  diligent  to  frame  their 
lives  according  to  the  light  of  nature,  and  the  law  of  that  religion 
they  do  profess ;  and  to  assert  and  maintain  that  they  may,  is  very 
pernicious,  and  to  be  detested." 

The  rfelvetic  divines  express  their  views  in  these  em- 
phatic wools :  — 

"  That  there  is  election  AND  REPROBATION  OB-  INFANTS  as  well  a» 
of  adults,  WE  CANNOT  DENT  AGAINST  GOD,  who  tenderly  loves,  and 
inculpably  HATES  them  before  they  are  born." — Acta  Dordrechtana 
Jutlicia  Thcologorum  Exttriorum,  p.  50. 

ARCHBISHOP  USHER,  in  his  Body  of  Divinity,  p.  165, 
ed.  1 702,  says  :  — 

"How  dots  God  suffer  them  to  run  into  condemnation  ? 

"In  a  divers  manner:  Some  REPROBATES  DYING  INFANTS,  oth- 
ers of  riper  years,  of  which  latter  sort  some  are  not  called,  others 
called. 

'•How  doth  God  deal  with  reprobates  dying  infants  > 

"  Being  once  conceived,  they  are  in  a  state  of  death,  (Rom.  6: 14,^ 
by  reason  of  the  sin  of  Adani  imputed,  and  of  original  corruption 
cleaving  to  their  nature,  wherein  also  DYING  TUEY  FEIUSH.  As  (for 
instance)  the  children  of  heathen  parents." 


252  APPENDIX. 


The  German  doctors,  Deodatus  and  Tranchinus,  pro- 
fessors of  theology,  said :  — 

"Of  the  infants  of  belitvets  ONLY,  who  die  of  an  age  before  they 
can  be  indoctrinated,  we  determine  that  they  are  saved." — Ada  Dor- 
drecktana  Judicia  Tlieologorum  Exteriorum,  p.  58. 

ARTHUR  HILDERSIIAM  says  :  — 

"  It  is  evident  that  God  hath  witnessed  his  wrath  against  the  sin 
of  infants,  not  only  by  hating  their  sin,  but  even  their  persons  also, 
(Rom.  9: 11, 13.)  And  not  only  by  inflicting  temporal  punishments 
upon  them,  but  even  by  CASTING  THEM  INTO  HELL.  For  of  those 
that  perished  in- Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  it  is  expressly  said,  (Jude  7,) 
that  they  were  not  only  consumed  with  fire  and  brimstone,  but  that 
they  suffered  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire.  And  the  Apostle  prov- 
ing infants  to  be  sinners  by  this  arguments,  because  death  reigneth 
over  them,  (Rom.  5: 14,)  showeth  plainly  he  meaneth  not  a  temporal 
death  only,  but  such  as  lie  calleth  condemnation  (v.  16);  there  is 
then  a  natural  proneness,  disposition  and  inclination  to  everything 
that  is  evil,  as  there  is  in  the  youngest  whelp  of  a  lion,  or  of  a  bear, 
or  of  a  wolf,  unto  cruelty,  or  in  the  very  egg  of  a  cockatrice,  before 
it  is  hatched.'  Against  these  damnable  errors,  (one  of  which  is  that 
all  who  die  in  their  infancy  shall  certainly  go  to  heaven,)  you  have 
heard  it  evidently  proved,  1.  That  all  infants  are  sinners,  and  de- 
serve damnation.  2.  That  many  infants  have  been  vessels  of  wrath, 
and  FIREBRANDS  OP  HELL.*'— Arthur  HUdenharri1*  Lectures,  on  the 
b\st  Psalm,  pp.  280,  281,  Ed.  1635. 

Twiss,  prolucutor  of  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
says:  — 

"  Many  thousands,  even  all  the  INFANTS  of  Turks  and  Saracens 
dying  in  original  sin,  are  TORMENTED  BY  HIM  (the  Deity)  IN  HELL 
FIRE,  is  he  to  be  accounted  the  father  of  cruelties  for  this?  "  Again 
"touching  punishment  in  hell,  it  is  either  spoken  of  infants  or  men 
of  riper  vears— of  infants  departing  in  infancy;  if  guilty  of  eternal 
death,  't  is  no  injustice  to  inflict  it,  and  though  he  be  slow  to  anger 
toward  some,  yet  it  is  not  necessary  he  should  be  so  to  others." 
Again,  it  is  true  many  infants  we  say  perish  in  original  sin  only,  not 
living  to  be  guilty  of  any  actual  sin.  of  their  persons.  Once  more: 
"  Every  man  that  is  damned,  it  is  for  original,  as  well  as  actual  sins, 

and  MANY  THOUSAND  INFANTS  ONLY  FOR  ORIGINAL!  "  The  riches 
of  God's  love,  unto  the  vessels  of  mercy,  consistent  with  his  absolute  hatred 
or  reprobation  of  the  vessels  of  wrath. — Fol.  ed.  1653,  pp.  39,  135, 136. 

I  close  these  quotations,  which,  by  the  way,  are  only 
specimens  of  much  more  of  the  same  sort,  with  an  ex- 
tract from  Wigglesworth's  "  Day  of  Doom,"  which,  as 
you  know,  was  once  as  familiar  as  the  catechism  in  New 
England,  and  which,  without  doubt,  represented  the  cur- 
rent theology. 


APPENDIX.  253 


According  to  the  marginal  note,  "  reprobate  infanta 
plead  for  themselves  thus :  — 

"  Then  to  the  bar  all  they  drew  near 

Who  died  in  infancy, 
And  never  had  or  good  or  bad 

Effected  personally; 
But  from  the  womb'unto  the  tomb 

Were  straightway  carried, 
(Or  at  the  last  ere  tliey  transgress'd) 

Who  thus  began  to  plead : 

* 
"  '  If  for  pur  transgression, 

Or  disobedience. 
We  here  did  stand  at  thy  LEFT  HAMD, 

Just  were  the  recompense: 
But  Adam's  fjuilt  our  souls  hath  spilt, 

His  fault  is  charged  on  us; 
And  that  alone  hath  overthrown, 
And  utterly  undone  us. 

" '  Not  we,  but  he,  ate  of  the  tree, 

Whose  fruit  was  intcrdic'-ed; 
Yet  on  us  all  of  his  sad  fall, 

The  punishment 's  inflicted; 
How  could  we  sin  that  had  not  been, 

Or  how  is  hi*  sin  our 
Without  consent,  which  to  prevent, 

We  never  had  a  poaer? 


"  'Behold  we  see  Adam  set  free, 

And  saved  from  his  trespass. 
Whose  sinful  fall  hath  spilt  us  all, 

And  broueht  us  to  this  pass. 
Canst  thou  deny  us  once  to  try, 

Or  grace  to  us  to  tenrter. 
When  he  finds  grrace  before  thy  face, 

That  was  the  chief  offender? '  " 


Another  marginal  note  tells  us  that  their  "  arguments 
are  taken  off"  by  the  Judge,  thus :  — 

"Then  answered  the  .IndEje  most  dread, 

God  doth  such  doom  forbid, 
That  men  should  die  eternally 

For  what  they  never  did. 
But  what  you  call  old  Adam's  fall, 

And  only  his  trespass, 
Ton  call  amiss  to  call  it  his, 

Both  his  and  yours  it  wa». 


254  APPENDIX. 


" '  He  yras  design'd  of  all  mankind 

To  be  a  public  head, 
A  common  root  whence  all  should  shoot, 

And  stood  in  all  their  stead. 
He  stood  and  fell,  did  ill  or  well, 

Not  for  himself  alone, 
But  for  you  all,  who  now  his  fall, 

And  trespass  would  disown. 

" '  If  he  had  stood,  then  all  his  brood 

Had  been  established 
In  God's  true  love,  neverto  more, 

Nor  once  awry  to  tread ; 
Then  all  his  race,  my  Father's  grace, 

Should  have  enjoy 'd  forever. 
And  wicked  sprites  by  subtle  slights 

Could  them  have  harmed  never. 

"  '  You  sinners  are,  and  such  a  share 

As  sinners  may  expect, 
Such  you  shall  have ;  'for  I  do  safe 

None  but  my  own  elect. 
Yet  to  compare  your  sin  with  their 

Who  lived  a  longer  time, 
I  do  confess  yours  is  much  less, 

Though  every  sin 's  a  crime. 

"  'A  crime  it  is,  therefore  in  bliss 

You  may  not  hope  to  dwelt  ; 
But  unto  you  I  shall  allow 

The  easiest  room  in  hell.1 
The  glorious  King  thus  answering, 

They  cease  and  plead  no  longer: 
Their  consciences  must  needs  confess 

His  reasons  are  the  stronger. 

"  Thus  all  men's  pleas  the  Judge  with  ease, 

Doth  answer  and  confute, 
Until  that  all,  both  great  and  small, 

Are  silenced  and  mute. 
Vain  hopes  are  cropt,  all  mouths  are  stopt, 

Sinners  have  nought  to  say. 
But  that  -t  is  just,  and  equal  most 

They  should  be  DAMK'D  FOR  AY." 

What  Wigglesworth  thought  of  the  "  easiest  room  in 
hell,"  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  stanza :  — 

"  But  who  can  tell  the  plagues  of  Hell, 

And  torments  exquisite? 
Who  can  relate  their  dismal  state, 

And  terrors  infinite? 
Who  fare  the  best,  and  feel  the  least, 

Yet  feel  that  punishment, 
Wherebv  to  nought  they  should  be  brought 
If  God  did  not  prevent." 

Wigglesworth,  Day  of  Doom,  sixth  edition,  1716- 


>x 

331 

x/ef 


A    001  032  056    2 


